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North East unemployment continues

While the rest of the UK has heard that unemployment growth is not as bad as it has been in previous months, the North East is continuing to slide further into widespread joblessness.

The unemployment figure in the region has increased by 2.6%, according to the latest numbers released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS figures show that the jobless total in the North East rose from 115,00 to 118,000 in the three months to September, with around 9.5% of the workforce unemployed.

Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government is launching a raft of new measures to tackle the issue, but conceded it remains a problem.

“These figures show families across the country are still being affected by the global recession,” she said.

“We must keep increasing support and advice to get people back into jobs. We will not leave them on their own.”

Nationally, unemployment held virtually static at 2.47 million in the three months to August with a rise of 88,000.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .