Number of long-term jobless will hit 1 million by end of year

Almost a million people will have been out of work for more than a year by the end of 2012, a poll suggests. And another 107,000 people will join the ranks of the long-term unemployed in the coming months, taking the total to its highest level since 1995, the Institute of Public Policy Research said.

Its report, released ahead of today's latest jobless figures, said long-term unemployment was the "hidden crisis" facing the British economy.

Tony Dolphin, the IPPR chief economist, called for more to be done for the long-term unemployed. "Two-thirds of people out of work for a year will not get work in the following two years. Government policy is not keeping pace with joblessness," he said.