Rising unemployment could affect budget, interest rates, pay and more

The jobless rate has climbed steadily as businesses have complained about the rising costs of employment. Photograph: John Sibley/Reuters

There are significant implications from the latest unemployment figures showing a rise from 4.8% in August to 5.0% in September, not least for the 1.8 million people it directly affects.

Rachel Reeves will be mulling over how to avoid depressing the economy and putting even more people out of work while raising tens of billions of pounds in extra tax in her upcoming budget.