PRESS ASSOCIATION -- The number of people claiming the jobseeker's allowance has experienced the biggest monthly rise for more than two years despite a fall in unemployment. New figures also revealed a record number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job.
A total of 1.52 million people were claiming jobseeker's allowance (JSA) last month, a rise of 24,500 on May and the biggest monthly increase since May 2009. The number of women on JSA increased by 9,500 to 493,900, the highest figure since 1996.
Women were also affected most by a 16,000 increase in redundancies in the quarter to May to 144,000, mainly in health and social services.The total unemployment figure, including those not eligible for JSA, fell by 26,000 in the latest quarter to 2.45 million, although those out of work for up to a year increased by 11,000.
The quarterly fall was mainly among 16 to 24-year-olds, with unemployment in this age group down by 42,000 to 917,000.
Long-term unemployment - counting those looking for work for over a year - fell by 37,000 to 807,000, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics.
Figures also revealed a 32,000 increase in people classed as economically inactive, to 9.33 million, mainly due to a 41,000 rise in the number of students not active in the labour market to reach 2.27 million.
The number of people in work increased by 50,000 to 29.28 million, 293,000 lower than the pre-recession peak, while the number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job increased by 80,000 to 1,25 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992.
Average earnings increased by 2.3% in the year to May, up by 0.3% over the previous month, with weekly wages now averaging £461.
In a statement received by the Huffington Post, the Employment Minister Chris Grayling said:
"There continue to be some encouraging signs in the labour market figures, particularly with the continued rise in private sector employment. It's really important that we continue to support the economy and encourage businesses to invest and create jobs.
"However, we do not underestimate the scale of the challenge that we face to help people into employment. We always said that the road to recovery would be choppy; for people who lose their jobs our new Work Programme is now up and running and will offer jobseekers flexible support tailored to their needs to help them into employment."