UNION leaders claim a sharp rise in unemployment shows the region is “bleeding to death”.

The North-East jobless total increased by 20,000 to a 17-year high of 146,000 in the three months to September, official figures showed.

The region’s unemployment rate of 11.6 per cent remains the worst in England, Scotland and Wales, closely followed by Yorkshire and the Humber, which has a rate of 10.3 per cent and 274,000 people out of work.

Nationally, unemployment now stands at 2.62 million, while youth unemployment has reached a record high of more than a million, with more 16 to 24- year-olds now out of work than at any time since 1992.

Northern TUC regional secretary Kevin Rowan last night claimed the Government had no plans for growth or tackling youth unemployment.

He said: “George Osborne’s economic strategy is seeing this region bleeding to death and his only answer seems to be to inflict more pain, an approach which has dramatically undermined the construction and retail industries, which have traditionally employed many young people.

“The economy is desperately in need of a boost and so are our young people.”

Experts at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North said the latest figures showed the pace of public sector job cuts was too fast for the economy – and was hitting women hard as a result.

Over the past year, female unemployment has increased by 23 per cent in the North-East and 19 per cent in Yorkshire.

Katie Schmuecker, senior research fellow at IPPR North, said: “The unemployment figures make for more grim reading, especially for women in the North- East and Yorkshire and the Humber, where unemployment among women is rising quickly.

“The concern is that this will continue to get worse as public sector cuts continue to bite.”

However, Employment Minister Chris Grayling blamed the rise on the crisis in the Eurozone.

He said: “Our European partners must take urgent action to stabilise the position.

“Our challenge in the autumn statement will be to put in place additional measures to support growth and create employment opportunities, especially for young people.”

One proposal announced yesterday was a plan to ensure more young people benefited from an apprenticeship.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said he wanted to make it easier for companies to take on apprentices.

Miliband: Terrible day for country

LABOUR leader Ed Miliband said yesterday’s unemployment figures marked a “terrible day” for the country.

The Doncaster MP visited Liebherr Cranes, on the banks of the River Wear, in Sunderland, where he answered questions from workers.

Mr Miliband said well-paid jobs in high-end manufacturing – in areas such as wind power – would help the country tackle the deficit and he attacked the Government for concentrating on the interests of the banks and the top one per cent.

Youth unemployment rising above one million was “a terrible day for Britain,” he said, adding: “If the Government had the political will they could get our economy moving and get young people into work.

“We have got simple proposals – tax the bonuses of the banks and use that money to create jobs for young people.

“We were doing this in Government. The Future Jobs Fund for Young People was putting young people back to work.

“The Government came and just abolished it. It was the wrong thing to do and they should change course.

“They are ignoring the needs of the North-East and other regions and they are totally out of touch with what’s really happening. They can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes.

“We have got unemployment among young people going above a million, we have got a Government sitting on its hands not doing anything.

"Frankly, it’s not good enough, it’s got to change."

Mr Miliband told his audience at the factory that he was talking to working people around the country about jobs and the economy because “it is too important an issue to be stuck in Westminster.”