The UK government today said the number of jobless people in the country has crossed 2 million-mark -- first such instance since the Labour Party came into power in 1997, as unemployment rate soared by a record 12-year high.
"The unemployment rate was 6.5 per cent for three months to January 2009, up 0.5 over the previous quarter and up 1.3 over the year," the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said.
"The number of unemployed people increased by 165,000 over the quarter and by 421,000 over the year, to reach 2.03 million. The unemployment level and rate have not been higher since 1997," it added.
At the same time, the number of people in employment for the three months to January 2009 was 29.38 million, up 2,000 over the quarter but down 75,000 over the year.
"There has been a fall over the quarter of 48,000 people in full-time employment and a rise of 50,000 in part-time employment. For February, the number of people getting jobseeker's allowance grew by a record 138,400 to reach 1.39 million.
"The number of unemployed, the unemployment rate and the claimant count have all increased. The number of vacancies has fallen. Growth in average earnings, both including and excluding bonuses, has fallen," ONS noted.
