Unemployment data rushed out after 'accidental early release'
ONS figures issued a day early show the number of people out of work has risen to 2.2m, the worst quarterly result since the early 1980s
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 May 2009 14.59 BST
Unemployment has suffered its biggest increase since the recession of the early 1980s as the collapse in world trade takes a particularly heavy toll on factory workers.
The figures were due to be released tomorrow but the ONS was forced by an "accidental early release" of some of its data to rush them forward.
The number of people out of work on the broad labour force survey measure (LFS) jumped by 244,000 in the first quarter of the year to 2.22 million. That figure was up almost 600,000 from a year ago.
The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "These figures are even worse than expected. Unemployment will almost certainly pass the 2.5 million mark by summer."
A slump in City bonuses has pushed overall wage growth into negative territory for the first time, according to separate figures revealed today.
The increase in unemployment pushed the jobless rate to 7.1% from 6.7% in the three months to February, the biggest rise since records began in 1971 and the highest rate since Labour came to power in 1997. In March the jobless total increased by 115,000, again the biggest increase since records began.
Of the increase, half was accounted for by the under-25s. Young people have suffered most in this recession with many failing to get a job when they finish school or university. The total is likely to increase further when the current academic year ends.
"Unemployment is the country's number one emergency and the government must use all possible means to address it," said Barber. "Some people in the City are already talking of recovery. But the only recovery in the real world will be when unemployment starts to fall."
The shadow work and pensions secretary, Theresa May, said: "We still have a government that is devoid of ideas and devoid of any real vision to help people out of this grave situation. Labour are still sleepwalking through this unemployment crisis."
One bright spot in the data was that the number of people claiming benefit rose by a smaller than expected 57,100 last month, the lowest increase since last October. But that still left the total above 1.5 million or 4.7% of the workforce.
The claimant count picks up only those actually claiming jobseekers' allowance, and is a narrower measure than the LFS which counts those out of work but not necessarily claiming benefit.
The ONS said average earnings were 0.4% lower in the three months to March than a year earlier. That was the first fall since records began in 1991 and was mainly down to the impact of lower bonuses in the City.
The Guardian revealed last month that City bonuses would fall to around £7bn this spring, half the level of last year.
"This is a clear sign that deflationary pressures are still lurking in the background. The possible impact of the paradox of security – workers accepting pay cuts in order to save their jobs, which in turn risk triggering price falls and more generalised deflation – is still a real risk for the UK economy," said Colin Ellis, an economist at Daiwa Securities.
Excluding bonuses, average earnings grew by a more respectable 3%, although that was the lowest figure since comparable records began in 2001.
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