The TUC has called on the government urgently to address labour market deterioration, in the wake of the latest employment figures. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the rise in unemployment pointed to "a worrying deterioration in the UK labour market. And with our so-called 'recovery' stagnating, all the indicators point to further rises in joblessness.

"The number of vacancies is now down to levels last seen in 2009, while female unemployment is at a 23-year high. As public sector job losses mount, employment prospects for many women are looking bleak.

"It is also worrying to see the unwelcome return of rising youth unemployment, with more than one in five young people currently out of work."

He added that government complacency over growth was coming back to haunt the UK and described the Chancellor's plans for job creation through new enterprise zones as ‘woefully inadequate.'

"Even if successful, the new enterprise zones will create fewer jobs in the next four years than have been lost in the last three months," he said.

"The Chancellor urgently needs to put forward a plan B before our economy heads back towards recession and even more people lose their jobs."

• The TUC has listed the top ten unemployment blackspots on its website.

• The latest unemployment figures are available on the Office for National Statistics website.

• You can see an analysis of these figures by TUC policy officer Richard Exell on the Left Foot Forward website.

• And TUC women's equality officer Scarlet Harris has written a Touchstone blog focusing on the dramatic rise in unemployment among women.