Rising unemployment puts another chink in Plan A's armour -

Grim unemployment stats out last week, particularly for young people. A snapshot of the South East: 43,000 fewer people in employment than in the previous quarter. Unemployment's up 1,000 on the previous quarter & now stands at 256,000. And the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance has increased by 1,900 on the previous month.

In a Newsnight report (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk25) Tony Travers of the LSE pointed out the significance of rising unemployment in the South East. Because it’s where a large chunk of the successful private sector is, falling job rates in the region show the Government’s assertion that private sector growth will make up for public sector cuts is a crock.

Ed Miliband to the PM at PMQs last Wednesday: “For every 2 jobs being cut in the public sector, less than one is being created in the private sector. This is the clearest sign yet that his policy isn’t working”.