The retail industry has seen the largest rise in people claiming jobseekers’ allowance in the last year, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

It said there was a 76,230 increase in the number of shop workers showing up in the claimant count in the year to July, and that this surge is partly due to several big retailers hitting the buffers such as Woolworths and Land of Leather.

The retail sector is followed by goods handling and storage workers. Between July 2008 and July 2009, the number of people claiming the dole increased by more than 700,000.

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