Unions call for rates cut to save jobs in slowdown

Unions today warned Gordon Brown and bank chiefs against allowing dole queues to lengthen in the battle against inflation.

New figures are today expected to show unemployment growing for the sixth month in a row.

The claimant count, people on Jobseeker's Allowance, jumped by 15,500 to 840,000 in June and some experts predict the increase will be even bigger for last month.

June's increase was the biggest monthly rise since December 1992. The total number of unemployed was 1.62 million in the three months to May, up 12,000 on the previous quarter, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.2 per cent.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said today's figures "will confirm that we are entering a crucial stage, when the decisions taken by the Bank of England and the Government will have a major impact on how many jobs are lost as the slowdown bites in 2009".

He added: "The Bank of England needs to address growing expectations of recession by cutting interest rates to boost business, and the Government needs to put more money in the pockets of publicsector workers to raise flagging consumer confidence."

There was a record rise in inflation to 4.4 per cent last month and economists predict it will hit five per cent within months.