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16 February 2011
Last updated at 06:16 ET
UK unemployment rose by 44,000 to almost 2.5 million in the three months to the end of December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.
Youth unemployment rose to a fresh record high, with more than one in five 16 to 24-year-olds out of work after a rise of 66,000 to 965,000.
The unemployment rate is now 7.9%, with youth unemployment running at 20.5%.
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance increased by 2,400 last month to 1.46 million.
The number of people in part-time work because they could not find a full-time job rose by 44,000 to 1.19 million, another high since records began in 1992.
Long-term unemployment also deteriorated, with 17,000 more people out of work for more than a year, to a total of 833,000.
Other data from the ONS showed that average earnings rose by 1.8% in the year to December last year, slightly down on the 2.1% growth in the year to November.
The figures also show that unemployment fell in Scotland by 13,000, but rose in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
'Less impressive'
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Chris Grayling: We'll provide more support for young people struggling to get jobs'
The government said the latest figures showed that unemployment was starting to stabilise.
"We've got a long way to go and I want to see these figures start to come down, but certainly the evidence is over the past month things have settled down and we are not seeing the increases we saw earlier in the last quarter," said Employment Minister Chris Grayling.
There were 40,000 more job vacancies in the three months to January than in the previous three months. This is often seen as an indicator of the health of the economy and whether companies are creating jobs.
But the ONS said that most of these new vacancies were temporary jobs, working on the 2011 Census. Excluding this, there were just 8,000 more vacancies.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said this was an indication that the government could not rely on the private sector to create jobs.
"There are still five people chasing every single job and in about a hundred constituencies, 10 people are chasing every job," he told BBC News.
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Liam Byrne: 'There's still five people chasing every single job'
'Disappointing' However, most analysts still expect unemployment to rise in the coming months, largely because of public sector spending cuts implemented by the government, which are designed to bring down the UK's budget deficit.
Most analysts say the economy has to grow at an annual rate of about 2% for unemployment to fall.
In the final three months of last year, the economy shrank by 0.5%, and although many analysts expect a return to growth in the current quarter, few expect GDP to top 2% this year.
"The labour market data are disappointingly softer overall and fuel our suspicion that unemployment is likely to trend up gradually in 2011 in the face of below-trend growth and increasing job losses in the public sector," said Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.
Analysts also say that rising unemployment will have a dampening effect on inflation, which is running at 4% as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, and 5.1% by the Retail Prices Index, which includes mortgage interest payments.
Are you unemployed? Are you between the ages of 16 and 24 and out of work? Send us your comments using the form below.
Youth unemployment rose to a fresh record high, with more than one in five 16 to 24-year-olds out of work after a rise of 66,000 to 965,000.
The unemployment rate is now 7.9%, with youth unemployment running at 20.5%.
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance increased by 2,400 last month to 1.46 million.
The number of people in part-time work because they could not find a full-time job rose by 44,000 to 1.19 million, another high since records began in 1992.
Long-term unemployment also deteriorated, with 17,000 more people out of work for more than a year, to a total of 833,000.
Other data from the ONS showed that average earnings rose by 1.8% in the year to December last year, slightly down on the 2.1% growth in the year to November.
The figures also show that unemployment fell in Scotland by 13,000, but rose in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
'Less impressive'
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Chris Grayling: We'll provide more support for young people struggling to get jobs'
The government said the latest figures showed that unemployment was starting to stabilise.
"We've got a long way to go and I want to see these figures start to come down, but certainly the evidence is over the past month things have settled down and we are not seeing the increases we saw earlier in the last quarter," said Employment Minister Chris Grayling.
There were 40,000 more job vacancies in the three months to January than in the previous three months. This is often seen as an indicator of the health of the economy and whether companies are creating jobs.
But the ONS said that most of these new vacancies were temporary jobs, working on the 2011 Census. Excluding this, there were just 8,000 more vacancies.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said this was an indication that the government could not rely on the private sector to create jobs.
"There are still five people chasing every single job and in about a hundred constituencies, 10 people are chasing every job," he told BBC News.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Liam Byrne: 'There's still five people chasing every single job'
'Disappointing' However, most analysts still expect unemployment to rise in the coming months, largely because of public sector spending cuts implemented by the government, which are designed to bring down the UK's budget deficit.
Most analysts say the economy has to grow at an annual rate of about 2% for unemployment to fall.
In the final three months of last year, the economy shrank by 0.5%, and although many analysts expect a return to growth in the current quarter, few expect GDP to top 2% this year.
"The labour market data are disappointingly softer overall and fuel our suspicion that unemployment is likely to trend up gradually in 2011 in the face of below-trend growth and increasing job losses in the public sector," said Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.
Analysts also say that rising unemployment will have a dampening effect on inflation, which is running at 4% as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, and 5.1% by the Retail Prices Index, which includes mortgage interest payments.
Are you unemployed? Are you between the ages of 16 and 24 and out of work? Send us your comments using the form below.