British unemployment hit its highest rate since 1996 in the three months to June, official figures show today, while the number of people claiming jobless benefit rose broadly as expected in July.
The Office for National Statistics said the ILO jobless rate rose to 7.8% in the months from April to June, above forecasts for a rise to 7.7% and the highest since October to December period in 1996.
The number of people without a job on this measure rose to to 2.435 million, its highest since 1995.
Despite recent signs Britain may be starting to emerge from recession, unemployment is expected to keep rising for some months to come.
Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, speaking before the figures were released, said Britain's stimulus measures had saved at least 500,000 jobs during the recession.
'The Treasury estimates that there would have been at least, probably far in excess of, 500,000 more jobs lost in the recession had it not been for the government's and the Bank of England's intervention,' he said.
The ONS said the number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose by 24,900 in July, broadly in line with forecasts for a rise of 25,000 and after a downwardly revised increase of 21,500 in June. That took the jobless rate on this measure up to 4.9%, the highest since October 1997.
The claimant count and broader ILO measures of unemployment have shown wide disparity in recent months and analysts say the former may not capture the full scale of recent lay-offs.
The government has launched an investigation into this discrepancy. One possible cause could be that some people who have recently lost their jobs are relying on their partner's income, their own savings or redundancy payments.
Today's figures showed that employment fell by 271,000 in April-June, matching the decline in the February to April period, which was the biggest since records began in 1971.
