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UK Unemployment Soars to 14-Year High

Jobless rate expected to keep rising despite signs of economic recovery

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 16, 2009 5:18 AM CDT

(Newser) – The unemployment rate in Britain has climbed to 7.9% despite signs the economy is slowly beginning to pick up, the Wall Street Journal reports. The rate is now the highest since 1995, and analysts expect it to keep rising until well into next year. Unemployment remains especially high among Britons aged 16 to 24, raising fears of a "lost generation" of young people.

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A political campaign poster from Britain's opposition Conservative party is seen in London earlier this year. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A man walks by a closed restaurant in Croydon, south London. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

People walk past a job center in London last month. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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More workers, particularly young workers, are paying a devastating price for the bankers' recession, and there is some way to go before unemployment stops rising. - Paul Kenny, general secretary
of the GMB union.

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UK Unemployment Soars to 14-Year High