While some of these numbers were released last week, the full picture is just emerging.

As of May 2012, the number of people unemployed in the UK stood at 2.58 Million which was 65,000 less than the three months last month. This is about 0.1 percent drop in overall unemployment.

In a not such a surprise move, the number of people seeking unemployment benefits increased to reach 1.6 Million. The number increased by 6,100 over the previous month.

Why this dichotomy? As unemployment falls, the number of people seeking job seekers allowance should decrease and not go the other way round. There is some truth in what some the Government departments say that the way the job seekers is now counted has changed as many of the single parents who were classified as benefit seekers as lone parents have been moved into Job seekers. While there is some truth in this, what cannot be underestimated is the lag effect of these numbers. Kesh Thukaram, Director Best Insurance commented and said that the effect of short term employment boost given by the Olympics should also be taken into account. While it is true that the lag effect will have its impact and the unemployment figures will rise to the levels of 8.2% post Olympics, in terms of sheer number of people registered at Job Seekers will continue to rise in the short term.

While the Government is trying hard to guarantee construction projects which when picks up will show a positive GDP growth, and the Bank of England is lending to the banks in order for the banks to continue lending to the businesses and retail customers, the underlying issues in terms of economic stagnation is far deeper and wider and one should not expect short term results.

In comparison to Europe where in the Unemployment is about 11.1 percent, the levels in the UK will be quite similar to that of US i.e. at 8.2 percent.

Income protection insurance and unemployment insurance continue to be popular products in the protection sector. There is a spurt of increase in demand for income protection insurance especially from the self-employed sector. This is due to the fact that self-employed people are finding increasingly difficult to compete and as margins are lower than ever, any illness or sickness can just not be compensated by more work. Arguably the UK is going towards more in the direction of USA wherein the important of income protection insurance is more than life or other forms of protection.