Responding to the latest unemployment figures published, which show that overall unemployment increased by 23,000 between January and April 2010, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
‘Today’s figures should serve as a stark reminder to the Government that the jobs market is still bleak.
‘Unemployed people are facing a postcode lottery in their search for work with dole claimants outnumbering job vacancies by over ten to one in some employment blackspots.
‘The worst possible response would be to slash spending which will cut demand in the economy and send hundreds of thousands of public and private sector workers on to the dole.
‘Deep cuts now could permanently damage the prospects for the one million young people out of work who are struggling to get their careers off the ground.’