UK unemployment

The number of people out of work increased by 220,000 in the three months to June. It means 2.435 million are now unemployed .

The three months to May saw unemployment rise by 281,000 to 2.38 million.

It is predicted dole queues will stretch past the three million mark next year - but an even gloomier forecast from the Centre for Economics and Business Research says it could approach four million.

This would be far worse than the 1980s peak under Margaret Thatcher.