Women worst hit as job losses soar

The number of people out of work neared the two million barrier for the first time in 12 years today.

The total of 1.97 million follows a massive wave of job losses during the autumn as Britain lurched into recession.

It comes on the day Gordon Brown hosted a jobs summit with bosses from employers such as Sainsbury's, Royal Mail and Whitbread to discuss how to tackle the lengthening dole queues. The figures show that women are faring worst because they fill many of the part-time and temporary posts that are routinely cut first.

More than 33,000 women lost their jobs in the South-East during the autumn. The last time almost two million were out of work in Britain was in July 1997, months after Tony Blair led Labour to power.

Today's Labour Force Survey jobless total, up from 1.92 million, covers the period from October to December when the economy was reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

London and the South-East were among the worst affected regions because many of the first wave of job losses were in the City and the service industries that support it.

Since then the aftershocks have spread throughout all sectors of the economy, hitting manufacturing and retailing hardest.

Next month's official unemployment numbers are certain to show another sharp rise as it will include the 27,000 people who were thrown out of work when all the Woolworths stores were shut down.

Although Britain still has one of the lowest jobless rates in Europe, the total is rising at twice the European average. Only Spain and Ireland, two of the countries worst affected by the global recession, are seeing dole queues lengthen quicker than Britain.

Today's figures also show a dramatic rise in the number of people signing on for unemployment benefits last month.

Yesterday, Royal Bank of Scotland said it was getting rid of 2,300 posts around Britain. Other employers planning culls include steelmaker Corus, Barclays, Marks & Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover.

There has also been a shake- out from firms going into administration such as CD and DVD retailer Zavvi, where just over 1,000 jobs have gone, and children's clothes chain Adams, where 850 posts have been lost.

City economists fear that the litany of job shedding by major employers in recent weeks will propel unemployment towards three million by early next year. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at forecasters IHS Global Insight, said: "We see unemployment peaking at 3.3 million in late 2010 or early 2011. It could reach three million before the end of this year and after that, although hopefully the economy will start recovering, it will be gradual so unemployment will rise through 2010."

A total of 3.3 million, or one worker in 10, would be higher than the 3.025 million peak of the early Nineties downturn and the 3.27 million high point seen in April 1984.

It emerged today that ministers have ordered an overhaul of job centres to make them more user friendly for the expected army of middle-class unemployed signing on over the coming months.
Hundreds of unemployed construction workers will stage demonstrations today at two power stations amid claims that UK employees are still being denied access to contracts.

A series of wildcat strikes over "British jobs for British workers" ended last week after a deal to resolve a row at a power station in North Lincolnshire.

But fresh protests will be held today at sites in Staythorpe near Newark in Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Grain in Kent.