Almost a million people have been forced to take up part-time work because they are unable to find a full-time job.

A report from the Office for National Statistics shows in the three months up to May 927,000 employees were working part-time in lieu of full-time work - and 12.5% of part- time staff were working fewer hours than they would like.

The news comes after news last week that unemployment had risen by a record of 281,000 in the three months to May 2009 and now stands at 2.38 million. The unemployment rate is 7.6% - the highest for 10 years.