Jobs a bad 'un: Plea for help in Budget as unemployment hits 17-year high

No help: Osborne in America yesterday with William Hague No help: Osborne in America yesterday with William Hague Reuters Axeman George Osborne is under mounting pressure to produce a Budget for jobs after unemployment hit a 17-year high yesterday. The Chancellor will set out his economic plans next Wednesday in the wake of jobless numbers rising another 28,000 to 2.67million in the three months to January. Instead of choking off growth with more ruthless cuts, he is being urged to help the almost one in 12 of the workforce, 8.4%, who are now unemployed. Unite leader Len McCl-uskey yesterday accused ministers of creating “a lost generation of young people and a forgotten generation of older workers, who may never work again”. He said: “These appalling figures show next week’s Budget needs to be about jobs and growth.” The Office for National Statistics figures showed the number of jobless women has risen 22,000 to 1.3million while youth unemployment is up 16,000 to 1.04million. Around 80% of new dole claimants are women and 110,000 people are working part-time because they cannot get full-time positions. French drugs firm Sanofi added to the gloom yesterday by announcing the closure of a plant in Newcastle with the loss of 450 jobs. Unemployment Figures (Pic:AP) Dole queues are growing across the country And UK Coal threatened to axe Daw Mill mine near Coventry, the biggest in the country, jeopardising 800 jobs. David Cameron, who is on a US trip with Mr Osborne, dodged a grilling on the dismal figures in the Commons yesterday. Deputy PM Nick Clegg faced the music and claimed unemployment was already rising among women and young people under Labour. But deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman hit back: “When we left Govern-ment, unemployment was coming down.” Private firms employed 45,000 more people while 37,000 public sector workers were laid off. Public sector employment has been slashed by 270,000 in the past year. A report revealed the Coalition has spent £600million axing 17,800 Whitehall staff since taking office. Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “There is clearly still a big challenge ahead to bring down unemployment and get people back to work.” Jobless figures in the UK are below the EU average of 10.1%.