| U.K. Unemployment rises less than expected |
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14/10/2009 13:57 (37 Day 18:31 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- The latest official UK unemployment figure has risen once again by less than feared in September. The Office for National Statistics said the rise in the three months to August left the jobless rate at 7.9pc, below the 8pc expected.
The National Statistics reported that the claimant count rose by 20,800 in September, below economists' expectations of a 24,500 rise, Guardian reported. This means there are now 1.6268 million people out of work and claiming benefit in Britain.
The wider ILO measure of unemployment also came in lower than expected, and did not breach the 2.5 million mark as feared, according to the same source. It rose by 88,000 in the three months to August, taking the total out of work to 2.469 million. This leaves the headline rate of unemployment at 7.9%.
The figures show that while unemployment is still rising in Britain, the rates of monthly increase are easing, in a sign that the labour market may not be as hard hit by recession as some had feared, Reuters reported. The economy is starting to show signs of recovery after a year-long recession and predictions from some analysts that unemployment rates could top 10 percent next year.
According to the same source, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the strength of any recovery, given a continued dearth of bank lending despite extensive measures from the Bank of England and government to get credit flowing again.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is trying to revive the economy in time for an election due by June 2010 which opinion polls show he is still on track to lose, Bloomberg informs. Gross domestic product, which has dropped for five quarters, may have stopped shrinking during the three months through September, curbing job losses.
“We can take some comfort from recent trends in unemployment numbers,” Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec Securities in London, said before the report, according to the same source. “There is some justification for a bit of optimism but evidently unemployment looks set to continue rising for a little while longer.”
Experts estimate that unemployment will continue to climb in coming months even if the economy may have technically emerged from recession last quarter, Guardian wrote. Both Gordon Brown and David Cameron, the Conservative party leader, have made returning Britons to work a key part of their promises.
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