UK unemployment hits 2.51 million

14 September 2011 Last updated at 05:35 ET

th unemployment also rose sharply in the three months to July

The number of people unemployed in the UK rose by 80,000 to 2.51 million in the three months to July, official figures have shown.

This is the largest increase in nearly two years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The jobless rate now stands at 7.9%.

th unemployment also rose sharply, by 78,000 to 973,000.

The total claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 20,300 in August to 1.58 million.

The number of people in employment in the economy fell in the three months to July, by 69,000 to 29.17 million.

An increase in private sector employment of 41,000 partially offset a fall in public sector employment of 110,000.

Private sector

“Clearly this is a very unwelcome set of figures. Any increase in unemployment is something we really don’t want to see happen,” said Employment Minister Chris Grayling.

He said the data would “reinvigorate” the government’s “determination” to take steps to get the economy growing and create private sector jobs.

The government is looking to the private sector to offset job losses in the public sector resulting from its wide-ranging programme of spending cuts, designed to reduce the UK’s debt levels.

Mr Grayling reiterated the government’s determination to continue with its programme of cuts, as the alternative of borrowing more money was not a credible solution.

Analysts said the unemployment figures reflected weak economic growth.

“Today’s data provide further evidence that the fading of the UK’s economic recovery is having increasingly severe effects on the labour market,” said Samuel Tombs at Capital Economics.

“Continued rises in unemployment in the coming months seem likely.”

However, some argued that, given the current economic environment, the figures were not as bad as could have been expected.

“The biggest surprise has been the resilience of the labour market given how weak growth has been,” said Ross Walker at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The UK economy grew by 0.2% between April and June.

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