Unemployment will continue to rise until the end of next year, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has predicted.

The union warns that while some analysts have suggested the recession may be coming to an end, job losses will continue for some time after the economy starts to recover.

Using a series of figures and comparing the current recession to the economic downturn of the early 1990s, the TUC has predicted the number of people being made unemployed will carry on increasing until at least the autumn of next year.

The union claims there is always a delay between the economy starting to grow and unemployment beginning to fall.

It points to the fact that GDP began to grow in the autumn of 1991, but it was 18 months later before unemployment started to fall.

In outlining the prediction of further employment gloom, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Some now say that we have a recovery, but even if this is not a false dawn, as others fear, it will be years before the thousands of people who have lost their jobs or who will lose them in months to come will see anything to celebrate.

“That’s why tackling unemployment must remain the government’s number one priority. Speeding up the process of getting people back into work and into jobs with decent pay will not only benefit the two million people currently out of work, but will also give the economy the spending boost it needs.”

In issuing their warning, the TUC points to the fact that during the shallower 1990s recession, unemployment rose for 11 consecutive quarters and did not then return to pre-recession levels for another seven years.