© Dukascopy
"The unemployment number ticking up so much is quite dramatic"
- Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose 5.3 thousand to 1.6 million in October, while the jobless rate increased to 8.3 percent, the highest reading in 15 years, said the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
"The unemployment number ticking up so much is quite dramatic and an 8.3 percent unemployment rate is punchy," said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG in London. "People are finding that it's grim. It's tough to find a job."
"Levels of youth unemployment have reached crisis point," said Matthew Freeman, commercial manager of skills and young people at Working Links. "With over a million young people out of work, we risk creating a lost generation of young Britons."