UK unemployment increases to 2.62m

UK unemployment rose by 129,000 in the three months to September to 2.62 million, as youth unemployment rose above a million.

Hugh Pym Chief economics correspondent, BBC News

The news from the latest labour market figures is almost universally gloomy. It's true that the rise in the claimant count (those signing on for Jobseeker's Allowance) of 5,300 in October was less than expected and well within margins for error in a total of 1.6 million.

There were slightly fewer redundancies in the three months to September than in the previous three months. But record youth unemployment and the highest overall unemployment level since 1994 speak for themselves.

The number of workforce jobs is the lowest since 2004 despite the increase in population. Insufficient jobs are being created because of low growth and that seems unlikely to change next year.