More Signs of Slowdown for UK Economy - Wall Street Journal

BY AINSLEY THOMSON

LONDON—The U.K. economy showed more signs that growth is slowing as a record fall in public-sector jobs caused unemployment to rise at its fastest pace in two years.

Public-sector employment fell by 111,000 in the second quarter and the overall number of jobless rose by 80,000 to 2.5 million, giving Britons a stark illustration of the combined effects of a slowing economy and austerity measures. The data gave opposition lawmakers and other critics a platform to call for urgent action.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government, which took office in May 2010, had been banking on enough new private-sector jobs to ...