100,000 people a month made redundant as jobless rate soars to 13-year high

• A job is now being lost every 30 seconds
• McDonald's receiving 2,200 applications a day
• Directors and CEOs claiming the dole up 200%

A hundred thousand people a month are being made redundant as the number out of work soars to a 13-year high.

In a grim milestone for Labour, the jobless total has reached the highest since late 1996, just before it came to power.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that 302,000 people were made redundant in the three months to April, 36,000 more than in the previous quarter and the most since records began in 1995.

New in the job: Yvette Cooper (right) talks to job advisor Simon Brocklesby at the Marylebone Jobcentre in London. The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said today that UK unemployment is lower than in the US and eurozone

At the same time, job vacancies hit a record low.

The number of people classed as officially out of work has soared to 2.26million, an increase of 232,000 over the quarter and 605,000 over the past year.

The number claiming Jobseeker's allowance increased by 39,300 in May to 1.54million, the highest since 1997. The 'claimant count' has increased for 15 months in a row.

Britain's unemployment rate is now 7.2 per cent, up 0.7 per cent from the previous three months.

Only the public sector was insulated - seeing an increase in overall employment by 15,000 to more than six million.

In stark contrast, private sector employment fell by 286,000 in the same period, to 23million.

LibDem spokesman Lord Oakeshott said: 'Every day brings fresh proof of the dangerous divide between Britain's two nations.

In the public sector, jobs and pay are rising, bonuses are booming and pensions are index-linked.

'Out in the cold private sector, jobs are cut, pay is frozen, bonuses and final salary pension schemes are history. Government must govern for Britain, not just the public sector.'

There was also concern that British-born workers are being hit more than those born abroad.

Labour MP Frank Field and Tory MP Nicholas Soames, cochairmen of a cross-party group on migration, said the employment rate for people born in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had increased over the past year but rates for all other groups, including those born in Britain, had fallen.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May pointed out last night that Labour has had four different work and pensions secretaries in less than two years.

She said: 'The Government is continuing to sleepwalk through this unemployment crisis. We need stability, not a revolving door at the Department of Work and Pensions.'

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 'Jobs are being lost relentlessly and many businesses are facing a major threat to their skills base.

'It is much too early to talk about the end of recession.

'The Government should consider easing harmful labour market regulations that are adding pressure on businesses.'

Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'It is vital we do everything we can, both to help people into work right now and to prevent long-term unemployment scarring families and communities.

'That is why we are investing ??5billion extra into helping jobseekers.

'The figures show the number of new claimants has fallen for the last two months, but many people are still facing significant difficulties and we are determined to provide more help.'