Unemployment expected to have risen in February

Unemployment is likely to have gone up for a second month in February, highlighting the fragility of the economy's recovery from recession. The latest jobless figures will be published by the Office for National Statistics at 9.30am today amid uncertainty over how quickly the job market can recover. Economists expect the number of people out of work and claiming jobseeker's allowance to have risen by 8,000 last month. In January, a 23,500 jump took the City by surprise because unemployment had fallen in December and November, raising hopes that the labour market was on the turn. The increase took the total number of claimants to 1.64 million, the highest since April 1997, just before Labour came into power. The Bank of England warned earlier this week that unemployment could continue to climb as the economy recovers. Economists were surprised that unemployment did not rise more during the recession, which ended in the last three months of last year. But a study in the Bank's quarterly bulletin warned that there could be worse to come. Yvette Cooper, the work and pensions secretary, also warned on Monday that job losses could continue until the summer. However, unemployment on the wider Labour Force Survey measure, which also includes people who are out of work but not claiming benefits, fell by 3,000 in the three months to December to 2.46 million, figures showed last month, taking the unemployment rate to 7.8%. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said the UK has a high rate of "hidden" joblessness. Its chief economist, John Philpott, has warned of a "jobless recovery", saying: "I don't think the rise in unemployment has come to an end yet. My expectation is that we will see further increases during the course of the spring and summer of this year. "The big fear is unless you get a fairly robust recovery, that the continued rise in unemployment will be more prolonged and larger in magnitude."