TUC on job figures

Commenting on the job figures published today TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, said:

The good news is that the number and proportion of people in work has gone up and the level and rate of inactivity among working age people has fallen. The worrying news is that unemployment is high by recent standards, although if you look at unemployment before 1997, you have to go back as far as 1980 to find a lower unemployment level than we have today. Nonetheless the government should take swift steps to tackle creeping unemployment growth and reverse the cuts in funding for back to work support for unemployed people, who need more help not less.