Cameron Disappointed By 17-Year Jobless High

David Cameron has admitted he is 'very disappointed' by the latest unemployment figures, which have reached a 17-year high.

In the three months to August, the total rose by 114,000 to 2.57 million.

It gives the UK a jobless rate of 8.1%, the highest since 1996.

Youth unemployment rose by 74,000, meaning the number of 16-24 year olds without work crept closer to the one million mark - at 991,000 - and remains at a record high with a jobless rate of 21.3%.

At Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, David Cameron described the figures as very disappoining, saying each job lost was a "tragedy" for the person affected .

Other figures showed a 178,000 slump in employment in the quarter - the biggest in more than two years.

The number of part-time workers dropped by 175,000 while there was a record reduction of 74,000 in the number of over-65s in employment.

The Office for National Statistics also highlighted the number of people classed as economically inactive increasing by 26,000 to 9.35 million.

It said that taking the inactivity rate and the new jobless figures together, half of 16 to 24-year-olds are now not employed.

However, while the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance rose for the seventh straight month - by 17,500 in September to 1.6 million - the increase was less than expected.

Average earnings increased by 2.8% in the year to August, down by 0.1% percentage points over the previous month, giving an average wage of £463 a week.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "It is clear that we are seeing the effect of the international economic crisis on the UK labour market."

He told Sky News: "We've seen big drops in growth in France and Germany...it underlines the scale of the challenge we now face."

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said the "terrible" figures were partly of the Government's making.

He said: "The government's austerity measures have turned unemployment into a full-blown crisis - with job losses not seen since the darkest days of the recession.

"Worryingly, this is not simply the result of Eurozone troubles.

"This unemployment crisis is state sponsored, and areas like the North East are paying a heavy price with more than one in ten people out of work.

"The Chancellor's Plan A has sent unemployment to a 17-year high.

"This country urgently needs a plan B to get people back into work."