Unemployment hits 2.2 million

A good day to bury bad news?

A day early, the latest unemployment figures from the ONS have been released. Unemployment rose by 244,000 to 2.22 million in the first three months of the year.

Joblessness has gone from 6.7% to 7.1% (but not to 7.1 million, as a BBC strapline just announced!).

The Government is now in dire straits and, rather more importantly, so is the country.

Tom Greeves

Update: Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May has commented:

"Today’s figures highlight how unemployment remains one of our most pressing economic and political issues.

Behind these grim statistics people’s lives have been shattered.

We still have a government that is void of ideas and void of any real vision to help people out of this grave situation.

Labour is still sleepwalking through this unemployment crisis."