Unemployment rate in United Kingdom highest in 17 years

The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom (UK) reached a 17-year high, a report of "The Guardian" said.  Quoting official figures from UK's Office for National Statistics, "The Guardian" said the unemployment rate was at 8.3 percent, the highest since 1996. The total number of unemployed people was 2.64 million and over 1 million of these are youths.  

According to the  Philippine Overseas Employment Administration's "Stock Estimate of Overseas Filipinos" (as of December 2009), there are over 200,000 Filipinos in UK.  

Slower pace of deterioration Economists, however, said even though the job market was slowing down, it was doing so at a slower pace than expected. "The Guardian" noted that 3,000 out of work people signed up for benefits, much lower than the 14,900 figure forecast by economists. Alan Clarke, economist at Scotia Capital, said, "things aren't actually that terrible and could be a clue that the economy hasn't yet slipped into recession." - VVP, GMA News