UNEMPLOYMENT reached a 17-year high today after another 128,000 joined the jobless ranks, taking the total to 2.64m. A series of grim figures delivered a pre-Christmas blow to the Government, with youth and female unemployment showing big rises and the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance increasing for the ninth month in a row.Employment fell by 63,000 in the quarter to October to 29.11m, while the number of people working in the public sector dipped below 6m for the first time since 2003.In the Liverpool city region, the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance fell slightly month-on-month, down 0.7% to 54,302 compared to October. The only borough to see a rise was Halton, where the number of claimants rose 1%.But overall, the number of claimants in the city region is 7% higher than a year ago. Nationally, the unemployment rate is now 8.3%, up 0.4% on the quarter – the highest since 1996 – while the jobless total is now worse than at any time since 1994. Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds increased by 54,000 to 1.03 million, the highest since records began in 1992.The Office for National Statistics also reported that women’s unemployment increased by 45,000 to 1.1m, the highest figure since 1988.Unemployment in the North West increased by 6.7% in the three months to October. The ONS said  301,000 people were unemployed in the region between August and October, 19,000 more than in the previous quarter.