High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Unemployment in the United Kingdom is measured by the Office for National Statistics and in June 2011 it stood at 7.7 per cent, or 2.45 million people, of whom 1.52 million claim benefits from Jobseeker`s Allowance. The figures are compiled through the Labour Force Survey, which asks a sample of 53,000 households and is conducted every 3 months. Because of the heavy individual and social costs that unemployment creates, the UK government administers a system of public job centres, income insurance for people out of work, and has historically intervened in the economic cycle to ensure employment remains high.