A new report has dealt a savage blow to George Osborne’s claims of a “recovery” with the revelation that there are more unemployed people in every region of Britain than before the crash of 2008.

The TUC says half a million more people were jobless in the first quarter of this year compared with the same three-month period in 2008. The research shows that In some areas, dole queues have been joined by as many as 100,000 people.

The brunt of the slump is still being borne by the nation’s young — with 167,000 more 16-24-year-olds unemployed than before the crash.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The recent upturn in the economy has prompted lots of speculation about an increase in interest rates. Those hawks that are keen for interest rates to rise have forgotten that unemployment is still over two million.

“In some parts of the UK, unemployment is 50 per cent higher than it was before the recession. The talk in the City and around Westminster may be about a fast-growing economy but the recovery still feels a good way off for millions of people still desperate for work across the rest of the country.

“The government should be doing more to get unemployment down in every part of the UK. High levels of youth joblessness are particularly concerning. The growing talk of an interest rise is a worrying distraction from this far bigger economic and social problem.”

But in Whitehall, the Department for Work and Pensions was in denial. 

“Unemployment has just seen the biggest annual fall in 16 years and the unemployment rate is at a new-five year low,” a spokesman said.

“There is still more to do, but it should be welcomed that more people are in work than ever before and thousands of people are getting jobs every single day.”

The news comes as a poll reveals more misery for Britain’s youth with four-fifths of students struggling to find a summer job according to a survey commissioned by website The Student Room. 

Almost a quarter (23 per cent) said they believed their conditions were worse than their permanent and full-time colleagues, the survey showed.