The unemployment total for Lincolnshire has reached over 16, 000 after over 1000 people lost their jobs in January.
The latest government figures show unemployment in the county has risen by over seven and a half percent.
In Lincoln another 200 people lost their jobs bringing the overall number to 3,242 people claiming unemployment benefits.
Charlotte Wilkins, 23, has been unemployed since she graduated from the University of Lincoln last May. She says “It’s really difficult. There’s a few jobs out there but nothing that really relates to what I did on my course and most say you need experience, which is impossible to get unless they give you a go. I feel a bit useless to be honest.”
Charlotte isn’t alone though. UK unemployment rose to 2.67 million in the last quarter to December 2011, the highest figure in sixteen years. The amount of people claiming job seekers allowance in the UK also rose by 6,900 to 1.6 million.
The rise for the country however was the lowest it’s been since June; Prime Minister David Cameron still believes that it needs “to grow faster.”
Lincolnshire however bucked the trend seeing a dramatic increase in unemployment from the 14,844 figure form last month.
The number of part time jobs is also on the up but this isn’t what everybody desires. “I can’t really afford to be getting a part time job” says Charlotte. “I suppose that it would be better than nothing but I need to start paying off my student loan and ideally be moving out of my house and live by myself again.”