It came as no surprise when official unemployment figures showed an increase of 118,000 in the three months to November putting the jobless total at 2.685 million. With an unemployment rate of 8.4% it's now at its highest since January 1996 with youth unemployment now at a record high. The number of young people looking for work stands at 1.043 million.

Although the number of people in work grew over the same three month period by 18,000 to 29.1 million, a number of job losses have been announced alongside the government's public sector cuts programme.

The Employment Minister, Chris Grayling said, "The overall level of unemployment is, and will remain, a major concern for the government. Despite the exceptionally difficult economic circumstances, finding work for the unemployed will remain top of the government's agenda."

Ross Walker, economist at RBS, said the numbers were unlikely to improve in the coming months: "Overall, there's a slightly softer feel to these figures. The labour market is struggling and forward-looking indicators such as vacancies and hiring intentions suggest it's going to be rocky in the first half of this year."

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