Unemployment up to 6.7%

Unemployment is up to 6.7% for the three months to February 2009, taking the number of unemployed to 2.1 million.

This latest level of unemployment is the highest it’s been since 1997.

The number of redundancies in the same period was 270,000, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1995.

The unemployment claimant count was also at its highest level in March since 1997 at 1.46 million.

Pretty grim statistics but perhaps not surprising with the dire economic situation we’re in.

Apart from the emotional turmoil caused by redundancy, loss of income can of course have a massive impact on families, not least on the ability to pay the mortgage.

The government yesterday announced the start of the Homowners Mortgage Support scheme to help homeowners keep their homes even if they have a temporary loss in income.

With the number of job vacancies though also falling opportunities for employment are decreasing.

As the number of redundancies contine to grow more households find they don’t have a safety net to fall back on.

There is the option to take out Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), an insurance policy that provides a monthly income to cover debts in the event that income is lost through redundancy, sickness or an accident.

MoneyHighStreet work with British Insurance who offer competitive PPI cover.

Premiums are £3.40 per £100 of benefit for unemployment cover, meaning monthly replacement income of £500 would cost £17 per month – cheaper than Sky!