Traditional manufacturing and heavy industry areas in Northern England, Wales, the Midlands and Scotland have suffered the biggest rises in unemployment, during this recession.

An analysis of official figures by research consultancy the Work Foundation found that the 10 worst affected cities were: Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Hull, Manchester, Bradford, Kirklees, Liverpool and Bristol.

Birmingham saw one of the greatest rises in the number of people on unemployment benefit - from 5.3% to 7.3% of the workforce.

James Martin, branch manger at Prime Time Recruitment in Birmingham, told Recruiter: “The automotive industry has been badly affected. Until people release finance for people to buy cars, it’s not going to improve.”

Other areas badly affected were Hull (up 3.2 percentage points to 8%), Corby (up 3.2 percentage points to 6%) and Blaenau Gwent (up 3.3 percentage points to 8%).

Naomi Clayton, senior researcher at the Work Foundation, adds: “Policymakers ignore how recessions play out locally at their peril.

“It is to be hoped that the forthcoming Budget focuses more attention on the large cities - Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham - which can drive the recovery, as well as recognising which areas need the most support.”