UK unemployment passes two million

More than two million people are out of work in Britain, the country's highest unemployment rate in 12 years, official data has shown. Unemployment rose to 6.5 per cent in the three months ending in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, as Britain weathers its first recession in 18 years. The number of unemployed people increased by 165,000 over the quarter and by 421,000 over the year, the ONS said, reaching 2.03 million.