UK unemployment has risen by a further 28,000 to 2.67m according to the office for national statistics

The unemployment rate currently sits at 8.4% according to recent figures from the ONS, with unemployment currently highest amongst women.

The government commented that the data showed that the job market is stabilising, yet many complain that not enough is been done to reduce the high number of unemployed.

The number of people who are claiming job seekers has also risen to 1.61 million in February. Although there was an increase on unemployment, it is the slowest increase in over a year, and with businesses showing more optimism in job creation the outlook for jobs growth does look promising.

"This is a more encouraging set of figures, with signs that the labour market is stabilising," said Employment Minister Chris Grayling. "Britain's jobs crisis shows no signs of letting up, yet complacent ministers are failing to act," said shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne.

Overall, the outlook is still quite downbeat," said Nida Ali, economic advisor to the Ernst & Young's ITEM Club. "Although there has been a raft of recent positive data for the UK economy in the early months of 2012, the improvement is unlikely to be enough to create more jobs."

The recent news on employment has been mixed, with Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland announcing job cuts of 1,900 between them. With Jaguar Land Rover creating 1,000 new positions as well as Tesco announcing plans to take on more staff after a recent drop in profits.