Jobless-benefit claims rose 10,100 to 1.58 million in October, the biggest increase since September last year, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median of 28 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for no change. Employment based on International Labor Organization methods rose 100,000 in the three months through September, half the pace of the previous three months as a boost from the London Olympics began to unwind.
The figures suggest the labor market’s recent resilience in the face of a recession may be waning. Economists expect unemployment to begin rising in coming months as companies respond to a weak economic outlook freezing hiring or cutting payrolls.
“While we expect the economy to eke out modest growth over the coming months, we doubt it will be strong enough to prevent unemployment moving up, especially as public-sector jobs will continue to be pared,” Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight in London, said before the report. “ Latest survey evidence indicates that companies are currently cautious in their employment plans.”
ILO unemployment between July and September fell 49,000 to 2.51 million, though figures prepared on an experimental basis showed an increase of 53,000 in September alone, the statistics office said.
