UK unemployment hits 2.2m as Unite plans protest

13 May 2009

Business

UK unemployment rates in the UK rose to 2.22m in the first three months of 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The figure, which leaves the jobless rate at 7.1%, is an increase of 244,000, the biggest quarterly rise since 1981.

Manufacturing has been one of the hardest hit, with the print industry in particular suffering a loss of 3,600 jobs since Christmas according to figures from Unite.

The union has vowed to take action on the situation, with a march through Birmingham on 16 May to push for more government action to save jobs.

Unite is pressing for measures such as a short-time subsidy, which would allow people to stay in their jobs and keep their homes. The march will take place through Birmingham city centre and will be the centrepiece of the union's Unite for Jobs campaign.

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said: "Twenty thousand jobs have disappeared from manufacturing since the recession took hold with thousands more in finance, print, paper and packaging.

"Our members did not cause this recession, but are paying for it with their jobs. Unite will not stand by while vital jobs and the skills, vital to helping us out of this downturn, are lost.

"Our message is that jobs and people must come first. The march through Birmingham will demonstrate the strength of feeling and commitment people have to fight for their jobs and futures."