Fresh figures released by the National Statistics Office has shown that there are still 2.46 million people are unemployed in the UK. This is in addition to 2.8 million underemployed people.

The rate of unemployment remained unchanged at 7.8 per cent during the final three months of last year.

Full-time jobs dropped by 37,000 to settle at 21.22 million, while the number of part-time jobs jumped by 25,000 to 7.69 million during the last quarter of 2009.

Figures also revealed that a total of 5,222 North Lincolnshire residents claimed Jobseekers' Allowance in January, up from 4,983 in the previous month. The figure was the highest since July 1996.

Commenting on the topic, MP for Brigg and Goole, Ian Cawsey, said, "This shows that the economy moving out of recession is only the start."

Unemployment in the UK is expected to rise again as the public sector is preparing to slash a number of jobs to cope up with spending cuts planned by the Government to trim down country's budget deficit.