Unemployment rises to 2.1 million

Some grim figures just released on unemployment: it has risen 177,000 in the three months to February to reach 2.1 million.

Another figure released this Budget Day morning is public sector net borrowing, which reached £90 billion in the last financial year.

All will doubtless be raised in the Commons later.

Update: Shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May has responded by describing the fact that unemployment is now higher than when Labour came to power as "a grim milestone". She said:

“No amount of Labour spin can cover up the fact this government closed a job centre every week in 2008 while unemployment was rising; no amount of Labour spin can hide the fact that this government is cutting help for the long term unemployed this summer; no amount of Labour spin cover up that this is a government that won't allow many people to retrain until after 18 months of being on job seekers allowance."

Jonathan Isaby

Comments

[Paul D]

"All will doubtless be raised in the Commons later"

Record tractor production figures will be the focus of Brown's answers though

[Tom Harrington]

Average earnings figures out this morning show that some are doing much better than others:

In the year to February pay growth (including bonuses) in the private sector stood at -0.5 per cent compared with 3.7 per cent for the public sector. Excluding bonus payments, growth in the private sector stood at 3.1 per cent compared with 3.8 per cent for the public sector.

[Damon from Birmingham]

No wonder they delayed the Budget until today. A good day to bury bad news.

[Tony Makara]

The question is how will a Conservative government reverse this? I believe the answer lies in the re-birth of large scale manufacturing and the development of an internal market. However that can't be achieved while the Conservative party is a slave to free-trade ideology. We need to stop importing goods that we can produce ourselves.

Made in China means Unemployed in Britain.

[Bexie]

We could do with 300 or so more on the dole, namely the socialist scum on the green benches

[oldrightie]

Tony Makara, good points. The Globalisation of trade is a natural thing based on home grown SURPLUS goods and produce. Sadly it has become a priority for giant banks and corporations to build massive monopolies for the benefit of too few people. The collapse of banking would never have been on the present scale if the incestuous nature of globalised greed was less prevalent. Unfortunately too many politicians and governments are locked into or bought out by the creed of "globalisation". A dramatic change from these ridiculous tenets would address so many of the last fifty years of international failure.

[The Bishop Swine]

"We could do with 300 or so more on the dole, namely the socialist scum on the green benches" Good point, but can you imagine Labour MP's reduced to £70.00 pw. It would be poetic justice.

"Some grim figures just released on unemployment: it has risen 177,000 in the three months to February to reach 2.1 million"

Of course this is only the tip of the Iceberg of financial stress. There are loads of people who do not get JSA because their partner is in work. Then there is the backlog of those on the sick and the disabled who cannot work. 5 Million is probably a more honest figure.

[martin sewell]

Did you notice that the Chancellor did not report that unemployment had risen but that there was an increase in the "claimant count".

[Dorothy Wilson]

Picking up Tony Makara's point, can anyone explain how the free trade that is part of globalisation equates with the climate change agenda? Surely, if the climate change challenge is as severe as some of the experts say it is the last thing we want is for goods to be shuffled around the world adding to the carbon emissions.

Mark Mardell had a sob story on his BBC blog a few weeks ago about some French fisherman having problems with his business that seemed to consist of shipping shrimps to Canada and then back again. Yes, shrimps.

I have to confess I'm not sure how any possible answers to this can square with my own views but it is something that puzzles me.