The Government has been hit by a raft of gloomy news, with redundancies reaching a record high, jobs and vacancies falling and more people claiming jobseeker's allowance.
The total number of people out of work, including those not eligible for benefit, jumped by 165,000 in the quarter to January to 2.03 million, the worst figure since Labour came to power in 1997.
The TUC warned this week that there is now an average of 10 jobseekers for every vacancy in the UK, rising to 60 for the worst-affected areas in the south east of England.
What can be done to curb the rising number of people facing unemployment? Is the government doing enough to help the unemployed get back into work? Is your job currently under threat? Are you unemployed and currently looking for work? Do you feel let-down by the government or are you optimistic that the job market will recover?
