Unemployment total, including the economically inactive groups, could be as high as 4.75 million, the UK jobless close to 5 million: TUC (TUC) has warned.
According to official figures, 2.5 million people are unemployed in the country. The TUC, however, said a further 2.26 million, who want a job and are not classified as unemployed, should be included in the figures.
“We are still in the midst of a job crisis. The true scale of unemployment is far bigger than official figures suggest, as nearly five million people say they want work today,” TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said.
O’Grady added a further 1.4 million people in the UK are only able to find part-time jobs despite needing a full-time one to afford their living costs.
Britain’s largest union Unite announced earlier that the number of workers on zero-hour contracts could be as high as 5.5 million.
Under the contract, workers are not guaranteed work from one week to the next and they must be ready to work whenever they are asked instead of working a specific number of hours per week.
