• Jobless total rises to 2.51m
• Unemployment rate at 7.9%
• Public sector employment falls by 111,000
• Claimant count rises by 20,300 in August
•Youth unemployment increases to 972,000
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m, mainly due to a sharp rise in youth unemployment. Despite ministerial hopes that the private sector will be able to compensate for the squeeze on the public sector, the ONS said the May to July period had seen the sharpest rise in unemployment in two years.