Unemployment hit its highest in 15 years and the number of young people out of work soared to a record of more than 1 million, adding to pressure on the government to do more to support a faltering economy. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people without a job on the wider ILO measure grew by 129,000 in the three months to September to 2.622 million, the highest level since July-September 1994. The jobless rate rose to 8.3%, compared with forecasts for a reading of 8.2% That was the highest rate since April-June 1996. The number of young people out of work ticked up to 1.016 million, rising above the politically sensitive 1 million mark for the first time since comparable records began in 1992 and taking the unemployment rate among eligible 16- to 24-year-olds to 21.9%. There was some degree of comfort. The number of people claiming jobless benefit rose by 5,300 last month, far below analysts' forecasts of a rise of 20,000. That was the smallest monthly rise in claimant count since February. However, average weekly earnings growth including bonuses weakened to 2.3%. Analysts had forecast a pick-up of 2.5% Excluding bonuses, pay grew by 1.7%.