Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest NewsEconomics, government & businessJob creation and lossesLabour market

UK unemployment hits 1.97 million

by Lindsay Clark 11 Feb 2009
by Lindsay Clark 11 Feb 2009

UK unemployment reached 1.97 million between October and December, up 146,000 on the previous quarter, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The independent research unit found unemployment rate reached 6.3%, the highest since 1998, as the UK economy weakens. Unemployment was up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier, the ONS found.

For December, the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance rose by 73,800 to reach 1.23 million.

Business leaders are meeting prime minister Gordon Brown later today to discuss the government’s strategy on managing unemployment and increasing job creation through government subsidies, amid reports the scheme is in chaos.

News on unemployment is set to get worse as companies including Nissan, Microsoft, RBS and engineering group Cookson were among a range of companies to announce redundancies this year in the face of the economic slow down.

Employment trends were mixed in the industrial sector. There were 2.8 million employee jobs in manufacturing industries in the three months to December 2008, down 101,000 on a year earlier, the ONS found. Over the same period, employee jobs in mining, energy and water supply industries increased by 2,000 to reach 180,000.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The UK began the global recession with a relatively strong jobs position, but our advantage is beginning to disappear as redundancies mount. UK workers are among the easiest and cheapest to lay off in Europe â€“ and when they find themselves out of work they get some of the poorest treatment.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“We now see the flip side of the poor protection for UK workers that the government lauds as a flexible labour market. No doubt we will be told that this means that we will be able to recover more quickly when the recession eases, but while this may be true for some relatively low-skilled jobs, employers will find it hard to put back together skilled teams that really create the wealth which will drive recovery.”

Better treatment for those who find themselves unemployed is also vital, according to the TUC. It said the government should give greater powers to the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service so that employers cannot block support for those facing redundancy.

Lindsay Clark

previous post
HR job vacancies fall for seventh straight month
next post
RBS planning up to 2,300 job cuts

You may also like

Number of Neet women rises but figures fall...

23 May 2025

Bank holidays: six things employers need to know

23 May 2025

Unions ponder strike action after public sector pay...

23 May 2025

Personnel Today Awards 2025: Three weeks left to...

23 May 2025

Sighing in frustration at colleague was discriminatory, judge...

23 May 2025

Flexible working for teachers initiative extended

23 May 2025

Fire and rehire: the relocation question

22 May 2025

Public sector workers gain pay rises of up...

22 May 2025

Six ways to kickstart conversations about team stress...

22 May 2025

UK net migration slashed by half in one...

22 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+