The number of British citizens in employment over the past year fell by 166,000, while the number of non-British with jobs in the same period rose by the same amount: 166,000.

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 48,000 had become unemployed in the last quarter, bringing the total national unemployment rate to 8.4%. That is the highest level in 16 years, with 2.67 million people out of work.

South Africa’s unemployment, by comparison, currently stands at 23.9%.

The ONS report warned, ‘These statistics have sometimes been incorrectly interpreted as indicating the proportion of new jobs that are taken by foreign migrants.’

These figures will no doubt cause many migrants to worry about a crackdown on them and their jobs, after UK Immigration Minister Damian Green proposed a £31,000 earning minimum for all immigrants. Catherine Maclay of Platt & Associates told TheSouthAfrican.com although they are only proposals, “The UK government is quite serious about sticking to its election promises to reduce net migration.”

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the think tank Migrationwatch, told the Daily Mail the increase in foreign-born workers was ‘quite extraordinary’.

He said, “Given the continued increase in the number of British workers who are unemployed, it seems quite extraordinary that some employers are still employing agencies to recruit workers from overseas.”

Employment rate for the three months to December 2011 stand at 26.61 million for British workers and 2.58 million for non-Brits.

Women and young workers are still the hardest hit, with nearly a million women out of work and 250,000 16 to 24-year-olds unemployed for more than a year.

Courtesy, The South Africa.com