The number of people unemployed in the UK increased by nearly a quarter of a million, during the first quarter of this year, to reach 2,220,000.

The figures released by the ONS, Office for National Statistics, showed that the jobless rate increased from 6.7% to 7.1%, and the number of people making unemployment benefit claims, during April, was up by more than 57,000 to reach 1.51 million.

The figures have caused concern amongst debt advice specialists, who are already struggling to deal with record numbers of consumers that are in financial difficulty. Since the start of the recession, many people have been hit hard financially, and are struggling to make ends meet.

Tens of thousands of people are behind with repayments on loans and credit cards and are in need of help programmes, such as a debt management plan or an IVA, in order to get then back on track.

The three month rise in the jobless rate was the biggest quarterly increase since 1981. News that unemployment is still rising, and is expected to keep going up for the foreseeable future will cause worry to a highly overloaded debt advice sector.

Many businesses are having difficulty keeping their heads above water, in these troubled financial times. The solution for many companies has been to reduce the cost of labour by reducing, or freezing, wages or by cutting the size of the work force with redundancies. Companies in a more precarious position are faced with the realistic prospect of having to shut up shop for good, leaving all of their staff out of work, and facing a gloomy future.

Debt advice specialists are urging consumers with financial difficulties to act sooner rather than later. They are recommending that help and advice should by sought, before things get out of hand and the only alternative left is insolvency.