Unemployment has now topped 2.5 million, a 17-year high. Youth unemployment is at record levels. The number of 16- to 24-year-olds out of work has increased by 30,000 to 974,000 – a rate of 20.6 per cent!
The number of “economically inactive” – hidden unemployment – now stands at 2.3 million people. The number over 65 years old returning to work rose by 56,000 to over 900,000 as older workers have come out of retirement to survive. ■