UK unemployment rate hits 14-year high

Unemployment in the UK surged to a 14-year high to 2.47 million in July even as economist say that the country is emerging out of recession.

The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday that the unemployment rate in the country was 7.9 per cent in the three months to July 2009, up 0.7 percentage points from the three months to April 2009 and up 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

The number of unemployed people was 2.47 million in the three months to July 2009, up 210,000 from the three months to April 2009 and up 743,000 from a year earlier.

Out of those figures, the number of unemployed men was 1.53 million in the three months to July 2009, up 150,000 from the three months to April 2009, while the number of unemployed women was 945,000 in the three months to July 2009, up 60,000 from the three months to April 2009.

The ONS data shows that one in five people aged between 16 and 24 in the UK is now seeking employment, the highest on record since ONS started keeping records from 1992.

The number of people unemployed for over 12 months was 567,000 in the three months to July 2009, up 53,000 from the three months to April 2009. Unemployment for 18 to 24 year olds was 731,000 in the three months to July 2009, up 36,000 from the three months to April 2009.