Unemployment has reached its worst level for close to a decade, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics said there were 1.72 million people out of work in the three months to July, up by 81,000 from the previous quarter.
It is also the highest total since the spring of 1999.
The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance rose for the seventh month in a row in August to 904,900.
The rise of 32,500 is the largest monthly increase since December 1992.
Wednesday's figures showed that the number of workers in the public sector in June was 5.77 million, up by 13,000 over the quarter.
Private sector employment was down by 29,000 to 23.77 million over the same period.
Employment minister Stephen Timms said: "Like other countries, the UK is dealing with global economic challenges and unemployment rose last month.
"But the UK labour market remains resilient.
"There are 333,000 more people in work than a year ago, and over 600,000 vacancies, with 10,000 new vacancies being notified to Jobcentre Plus each day.
"By offering training to develop the specific skills that employers are looking for, as well as practical help such as drafting CVs, Jobcentre Plus offers effective support to help people get back to work.
"We shall be strengthening this assistance further in the next few months with the roll-out of our welfare reform programme."
Comment on ePolitix.com's MP blog on the economy
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd