Unemployment levels overestimated?

Those in debt could be pleased to hear that unemployment levels in 2010 may not be as bad as originally feared, although they will continue to rise.

This is according to Work Wise UK’s chief executive Phil Flaxton, who observed that job cuts and redundancies typically occur during the first quarter of a new year, as opposed to the months just before the festive season.

Quoting figures from the Confederation of British Industry that suggested joblessness rates would peak in 2010 at 2.8 million, Mr Flaxton said: “Unemployment has been very low over the last decade and 2.8 million is not as high a figure as [we have seen] over the last decade.”

He was commenting after the Conservative party published figures revealing that, for some professions, the number of people claiming for unemployment benefits has risen by more than 900 per cent, with many petitions coming from white collar workers such as architects.

By Sarah Adie