The Office for National Statistics said its comprehensive internationally comparable measure of unemployment rose 129,000 in the three months to September to 2.62 million, the highest level since 1994. That lifted the unemployment rate to 8.3%, the highest rate since 1996, compared with 8.1% in the three months to August.
Within that figure, the number of unemployed people between 16 and 24 years old, known as youth unemployment, rose 67,000 in the three months to September to 1.02 million, a rate of 21.9%.