300,000 jobless in London - and rising

UNEMPLOYMENT is rising faster in London than anywhere else in the country.

The jobless total jumped by 39,000 in three months to hit 304,000 at the end of September, according to figures out today, taking the rate from 6.6 to 7.5 per cent.

Analysts said a huge proportion of the new jobless were from financial services and the property industry due to the effects of the credit crunch in the City.

Brokers Collins Stewart said 40,180 jobs in Europe's banking industry have been lost so far, of which half would be in London.

That is enough to clear three office blocks the size of the Canary Wharf tower and would include support staff such as secretaries as well as high-paid bankers and traders.

The figure is almost certain to show another dramatic jump in the next quarter, when the impact of the global financial crisis triggered by the Lehman Brothers collapse takes hold. Baroness Valentine, chief executive of business group London First, said: "Banks have been quietly laying people off for some time, at least the past 12 months. Companies that provide services to property owners are also letting people go. The question is, has it moved beyond these sectors?"

Some lawyers are also starting to lay off staff, although the Government's bank rescue deals have provided plentiful work for the biggest firms.

Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "Today's figures are worrying and London's workforce will be rightly concerned if the current trends persist. But there is no use being overly pessimistic, the economic conditions are tough but the real economy is still holding up relatively.

"The Government has moved in recent days to shore up our financial institutions, what we now need are measures to help smaller firms."

But CBI deputy director-general John Cridland said: "These figures are worse than we expected. They suggest the fallout from the slowdown in the economy is being felt by individuals faster and sooner than previously thought."

Mike Tuffrey, leader of the Liberal Democrat group at the London Assembly, said: "Every serious analysis shows there'll be a real, profound effect on London and its economy and I've not seen or heard a word from the Mayor as to how London should respond.

"All he could give me was a complacent 'Don't panic' response. It's just not good enough. London and Londoners need a concrete plan of action."

The Tories pointed out that while the number of British nationals in work was falling, employment of migrants had soared in the past two years. Since 2006, the number of indigenous people in jobs fell by 365,000, while 865,000 more foreign-born nationals were in work. William Hague, standing in for David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions said that the figures marked a "grim day" for the economy. He branded Gordon Brown's boast to have abolished boom and bust "one of the most foolish, one of the most hubristic, one of the most irresponsible claims ever made by a British prime minister".

Mr Brown arrived at the European summit in Brussels to make an urgent call to world leaders to take action now to avert "the next" financial crisis. "This is not a time for dealing just with the current crisis but also preventing the next," he told the Standard. "That's why we must also discuss the next steps that we must now take to transform our financial institutions." Mr Brown continued to enjoy unprecedented praise for a British leader in recent times, with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso saying his bank rescue blueprint had given "impetus" to the rest of the community.