It seems a fitting tribute that on the day of Margaret Thatcher's funeral (sponsored by the society she denied existed) that grim unemployment figures emerged.
Despite her election campaign prominently featuring that famous Saatchi poster 'Labour isn't Working', deploring unemployment breaching 1 million under Callaghan's Labour, she oversaw unemployment rise for her first seven consecutive years in office, and breaching 3 million.
But back to today's figures: in the last 3 months, an extra 70,000 have joined the massed ranks of the unemployed (now at 2.56 million - higher than at any point under the last Labour government). Long-term unemployment (those without work for over 12 months) hit 900,000 - the highest level for 17 years. It's even worse for the young, the number of long-term unemployed 18-24 year olds (unemployed for over 12 months) is the highest since 1993.
Overall, since this government was elected, UK unemployment is up 88,000, youth unemployment is up 56,000, and long-term unemployment is up 101,000. Expect a further rise in unemployment next month too ...
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