Unemployment hits 2m

19 March 2009

The number of people out of work has passed the two million mark for the first time since 1997, according to official data.

Categories: Enterprise

Unemployment has broken the two million barrier for the first time in more than a decade, it has been revealed.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of people out of work during the three months to January 2009 hit 2.03 million, the highest figure since 1997.

Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, stated that the news marked "another grim milestone" on the road to mass unemployment.

He called on world leaders to agree an international plan to combat the economic downturn.

"International summits may seem a long way from the dole queues, but without such a stimulus unemployment will go higher and last longer. We need to put every pressure on world leaders to work together," Mr Barber said.

However, no matter what is done unemployment will get worse before it gets better as joblessness always persists after economic recovery begins, he added.

Recently, the British Chambers of Commerce predicted that unemployment will peak in the second half of 2010 at 3.2 million.ADNFCR-1459-ID-19082247-ADNFCR

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