UNEMPLOYMENT rose by 1,000 in Wales between November and January the latest figures show.

The total jobless count stands at 134,000 with the total unemployment rate at 9.1%. This is against a UK average of 8.4% which reached a 17-year high today after rising to almost 2.7 million.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said today's rise in unemployment was "disappointing" but insisted the problem was not the fault of the coalition Government.

Mr Clegg, standing in at Prime Minister's Questions because David Cameron was in the USA, said it would be wrong to suggest it was a "problem invented by this Government".

He said that unemployment among women and young people had risen under the Labour administration.