Dramatic rise in UK unemployment rates
Worrying statistics from the Office for National Statistics show a sharp rise in UK unemployment rates at the beginning of 2011.
Recent figures revealed that the number of unemployed people increased to 2.51 million in the first three months leading up to July this year. This is an overall rise of 80,00, representing an increase of 7.9%.
Young people are suffering heavily as a result of unemployment rates, with a recorded increase of 78,000, bringing the total to 973,000. Both sexes are contributing to these statistics, with unemployment in men rising by 39,000 and women by 41,000. Although the UK economy experienced a growth of 2% between April and June, it still remains weak following the recession, which is a significant factor in this downturn. A high number of cuts in public sector jobs could also be partly blamed for these regrettable figures.
On the plus side, there has been an increase in employment within the private sector by 41,000. The government hoped that the private sector would pick up a lot of the cuts from the public sector, but the numbers are no where near what they had envisaged. There are now a total of 1.58 million people claiming job seekers allowance, which is a rise of 20,300.
As the coalition government continues to announce more public sector cuts in the UK, it looks likely that more rises in unemployment are imminent in the future. As tuition fees also continue to rise, it leaves young people with a bleak outlook for the future. As private sector companies also continue to suffer as a result of the recent recession, it looks unlikely that they will be able to help with the recovery.
View the original BBC News article.