UK unemployment jumps to highest in nearly 17 years

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters): The number of unemployed in Britain jumped to its highest level since 1994 as private companies failed to make up for the job losses in the public sector, fuelling fears that the country may slip into recession. The increase in jobless numbers will put more pressure on the government to boost the economy, which has barely grown over the past year as consumers cut back spending and key export markets are slowing. The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefit rose by 17,500 in September, official data showed Wednesday. Analysts had forecast a rise of 25,000. However, the Office for National Statistics said the number of people without a job on the wider ILO measure jumped by 114,000 in the three months to August to 2.57 million, the highest total since October 1994. The jobless rate ticked up to 8.1 per cent, the highest since October 1996, compared with forecasts for a reading of 8.0 per cent. The Bank of England (BoE) launched a fresh round of stimulus last week, pumping an additional 75 billion pounds into the economy in order to prevent a renewed recession. BoE economist S pencer Dale said in an interview the economy was likely to weaken further in the final quarter of this year. The ONS said pay increases slowed in the three months to August, in a sign that wages were unlikely to fuel inflation. Average weekly earnings including bonuses grew by 2.8 per cent. Analysts had forecast a rise of 2.9 per cent. Excluding bonuses, earnings rose only 1.8 per cent, below analysts' fore casts of 2.0 per cent.