News / Economy / Interviews

UK jobless on the rise

Wednesday, 12 August 2015 11:36 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 1:50 PM ]

File image of a job center in London (Photo by the Guardian)

A newly published report by the British government has revealed that the labor market has been witnessing the second consecutive month of job losses.

According to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) 1.85 million people have been out of job in the April to June period.

The figures show that there has been a fall in employment and a rise in unemployment within the second quarter of 2015.

The number of employed people dropped by 63,000 and the number of unemployed people increased by 25,000.

According to official reports, the youth unemployment rate increased to 16% in the same period.

The total unemployment rate in the UK was highest in the North East (8.1%) of England and lowest in the South West (4.4%) amid concerns that earnings growth is slowing.

Meanwhile, a London-based economic expert believes that the real number of the unemployed people is much more than what the government has announced.

“There are millions of people in this country that are still effectively unemployed but they are getting some form of government benefits, therefore they are discounted from the official statistics. So they make the numbers look a lot better than they actually are, Ivor Kellock told Press TV’s UK Desk.

"I’m still extremely concerned about the long-term outcomes for the UK economy because the economy is still struggling," he concluded.

The recent slowdown has already put a question mark over the recovery of the labor market.

"The rise in unemployment for a second month in a row is worrying and shows we cannot afford to be complacent about the recovery," Stephen Timms, Labour's acting shadow work and pensions secretary was quoted as saying by the British media.

"With productivity stagnating, David Cameron and George Osborne must take bolder action to raise job seekers' skill levels to get more back into work and help build the high-skilled workforce Britain needs," he added.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir