Unemployment passes two million

[Cyberman]

Yeah, there's only two million people unemployed and about another two millions on incapacity benefits.

Labour - A safe pair of hands.

Correction..... there were 2.7 million incapacity claimants according to 2007 figures. I would imagine that the figure is now over 3 million as we have no evidence whatsoever of any credible HMG policy to reduce this scandalous figure.

[Gonzo]

Since then an extra million people are now employed in the bloated public sector, not producing much, and they are more expensive for the taxpayer than if they were on the dole.

You think that they are expensive now, wait until they retire and they cost an occupational pension on top of the state pension.

[Doggy Styles]

This two million is worse than the unemployment peaks of three million in the early 1980s and early 1990s.

Since then an extra million people are now employed in the bloated public sector, not producing much, and they are more expensive for the taxpayer than if they were on the dole.

[Foxy Moron]

My old economics tutor of 20 odd yrs ago always said to double unemployment stats to get a real picture of the number of unemployed.

JSA is only claimable for 6 months and there are plenty of caveats to stop people claiming it.

As under the last government, true unemployment= JSA + income support + disability + non claimants

Which is I'd guess circa 5 million

or about 15-20% of the working population

[BlightyBoy]

Yeah, there's only two million people unemployed and about another two millions on incapacity benefits.

Labour - A safe pair of hands.

Not to mention the remaining million(s) who do not fall into either category but are still, nonetheless, OTB.

[DimPrawn]

Yeah, there's only two million people unemployed and about another two millions on incapacity benefits.

Labour - A safe pair of hands.

[BrilloPad]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7947766.stm

UK unemployment has risen above two million for the first time since 1997, official figures have shown.

During the three months to January, the number of people unemployed totalled 2.03 million, up by 165,000, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

For February, the number of people getting jobseeker's allowance added a record 138,400 to reach 1.39 million.

There are now 10 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in UK jobcentres, the TUC claimed earlier this week.

The ONS added that the unemployment rate jumped to 6.5% between November and January.

Business warnings

Earlier this month the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the economy had worsened "significantly" so far in 2009.

It also made the gloomy prediction that by the second half of next year unemployment across the UK would reach 3.2 million, which is slightly more than 10% of the workforce.

Unemployment is rising as the first recession in the UK since 1991 continues to bite.

Last month, business body the CBI predicted there would be 2.9 million people unemployed by the end of 2009, breaching the three million mark in 2010.

Alan Tomlinson, an accountant who guides firms through insolvency, said he had "never been so busy".

"Companies of all sizes and in all sectors are folding by the day, putting more and more people out of a job," he said.

"The CBI's prediction, last month, that unemployment will peak at just over three million in the second quarter of 2010 could prove to be wildly optimistic."

The International Monetary Fund predicted on Wednesday that the UK's recession would last longer than that of any of the world's other major economies.

It warned the UK would be the only member of the G7 group of leading industrial countries that would continue to see its economy contract in 2010.