Jobless figures set to rise as the election looms

After yesterday's letter from 20 economists which the Chancellor robustly attacked earlier on the Today programme comes more bad news on the economic front.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)are forecasting that just as the election campaign gears up,dole queues will increase to 2.8 million.

I think that it is safe to say that we have been spared the worst forecasts of unemployment made at the start of the financial crisis,but as many economists will tel you,unemployment will lag behind economic performance.

The forecast says that at least a quarter of firms are still planning to shed positions.

John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the CIPD, said: "The UK jobs market is still on the ropes, with a public sector fall in employment now a reality as it feels the impact of the longest recession in modern times. Despite the jobs market proving resilient in recent months, this represents a mere pause for breath with the number of redundancies easing in the private sector and spending cuts yet to be felt by large swathes of the public sector.