Will Brits start new firms as joblessness increases?

Date: 15th February 2012

A rising number of Britons could consider setting up a business of their own after new figures revealed the extent of the UK's unemployment issues.

The latest labour market report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown that another 48,000 people were out of work in the last three months of 2011.

This means the UK unemployment rate now stands at 2.67 million, the report showed.

Data from the ONS study offered mild encouragement to those still in work, with average salaries increasing by two per cent in the year to December.

The news comes shortly after the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) predicted that unemployment will continue to rise throughout 2012.

According to the organisation, UK unemployment will reach 2.85 million before the year is out.

Gerwyn Davies, the CIPD's public policy adviser, said the forecast comes as the jobs market is "buckling under the strains of contractions in economic growth and public sector employment".

Posted by Thomas Fletcher