Almost a million people in the UK are working part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs, according to data released by The Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS has revealed that in the three months to May 927,000 people said they were working part time because could not find a full-time job - a third more than a year ago.

"These people won't be showing up in the spiralling unemployment figures but the economic slowdown and their subsequent move into part time work will have forced many of these families to rein in their spending dramatically," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress.

UK unemployment recently rose by a record 281,000 to 2.38m in the quarter to May and the jobless rate grew to 7.6% - the highest in over a decade.