The number of British people claiming unemployment benefits rose for a second consecutive month in November for the first time in nearly nine years, new figures have shown.
Although the unemployment rate remains close to a 26-year low at 3.2 per cent, mounting job losses such as the 30,000 announced by state-owned postal service Consignia yesterday, have begun to take their toll.
The National Statistics office said today that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose 4,800 in November, following an upwardly revised 7,500 rise in October, to 959,100.
The rise slightly lower than economists' forecasts and comes as little surprise given increasing recent signs that the economy, while still the best performer in the G7, is slowing.
Manufacturing has been particularly hard hit, squeezed by falling global demand and a strong pound against the euro.
The number of manufacturing jobs fell 141,000 in the year to October 2001 to 3.79 million, a record low.
The British government's preferred International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure of unemployment, which includes those seeking work but not necessarily claiming benefit, rose 29,000 in the three months to October to 1.52 million giving an ILO unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent.
Despite the rise in unemployment the rise in average earnings accelerated slightly to 4.4 per cent in the three months to October, up from 4.3 per cent in the previous three months.
Public sector workers continued to lead the way, securing an average 5.7 per cent rise in average earnings in the latest three months, down from 5.8 per cent in the previous three months.