Unemployment hits 2.47m

The number of Britons currently in paid employment has fallen again, new research has found, which may be due, in part, to the rising number of redundancies taking place in workplaces.

According to the Office For National Statistics, in the three months leading up to July, unemployment rates climbed to 2.47 million, which is the highest level recorded in 14 years.

The figures also revealed that the unemployment rate now stands at 7.9 per cent, with the number of 16 to 24-year-olds currently out of work rapidly approaching the one million mark.

And the jobless rate in this age group has now reached 19.7 per cent, which is the highest since records began.

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In addition to unemployment rates rising, the number of vacancies has fallen, along with growth in average earnings and bonuses.

The news comes after Home secretary Alan Johnson also announced that as of next year, careers posted in JobCentre Plus offices will be advertised to just UK nationals for one month before they open up applications to non-UK workers.