Abacus Daily Debt News

Unemployment up again

UK unemployment has risen again, which could leave many more people struggling to pay off their credit card debts and other borrowing.

Official figures published today (January 18th) by the Office for National Statistics have revealed the number out of work rose by 118,000 in the three months to November 2011, increasing from 8.1 per cent of the working population to 8.4 per cent, or 2.68 million.

This was the highest level of joblessness since the mid-1990s and the headline figure may be just one sign of the problems consumers face.

Another issue is that while the number in full-time work fell by 57,000, the total in part-time jobs rose, which could mean many are not unemployed but are working less and therefore have a smaller income with which to pay their bills - including debt repayments.

Those shedding jobs in the months ahead could include small firms, with a poll by the Federation of Small Businesses published this week showing 6.5 per cent of them expect to lay staff off in 2012.

By James Francis