The number of unemployed in the UK plunged to settle at 2,461,000, during the quarter ended September, down 8,000 from the last quarter.

As per figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics, unemployment may have peaked in June, with 2,470,000 people out of work.

Still, the rate of unemployment stood unchanged at 7.8 per cent.

About 1.64 million people qualified to get unemployment allowance in October, representing a slight increase from the last year.

Unemployment among youth stands at about one million, and around 1.1 million people have been out of work for over six months.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has revealed Government’s plans to initiate 1,000 new scholarships to encourage apprentices to joinn university degree courses.

But, yesterday Bank of England’s Governor Mervyn King warned that immediate prospects for the country’s economy were worse than it forecast. He predicted that British economy would not regain its pre-recession status before 2011.

Moreover, a number of experts believe that more job losses will emerge next year amid cuts in public spending and tax hikes.