Raise your hand if you think strict austerity works for a struggling economy. Anyone? It's hard to understand why anyone thinks this works because it hasn't and it won't. Much like the "tax cuts generate private industry jobs" lie that has failed miserable after a ten year run, many on the right (including our own president) still behave as though it's a valid policy position. It's voodoo economics all over again.
The government has repeatedly pointed to job creation by the private sector as reassuring news in the face of the slowdown in economic growth over the past nine months. But the Office for National Statistics revealed that unemployment jumped by 38,000 to 2.49 million in the three months to June on the government's preferred measure which includes all those out of work and actively looking for a job. The increase would cancel out the 30,000 jobs George Osborne hopes to create with his new enterprise zones, 11 more of which have been were announced. The unemployment rate rose to 7.9%, from 7.8% in the previous quarter.
On the more timely claimant count measure, unemployment was up by 37,100 on a month earlier – the biggest increase since February 2009, when the economy was deep in recession.
The figures showed that youth unemployment has risen again, after dropping in recent months, and there was fresh evidence that high unemployment could have been a contributing factor to last week's wave of rioting. Analysis by the TUC showed that several of the hotspots were among the 10 areas of the country where the largest number of claimants are chasing each job vacancy.
