The number of people out of work in the UK has risen to its highest level in 14 years, official figures have shown.

Unemployment increased by 210,000 to 2.47m in the three months to July, taking the jobless rate to 7.9%, the Office for National Statistics said. Claims for unemployment benefit in August grew by 24,400 from July to 1.61m, the highest since May 1997.

There have been signs the UK economy is beginning to pick up, but jobless data tends to lag behind other measures. Average earnings, including bonuses, increased by 1.7% in the three months to July, down from the previous month.

The number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work rose from 928,000 to 947,000 - edging closer to the landmark of one million and adding to fears of a new "lost generation" of young people. The jobless rate among this age group is at 19.7% - the highest since records began - meaning almost one in five is looking for work.

The Midlands might be undergoing something of a minor cultural renaissance – with Sven-Goran Eriksson taking over at Notts County, three local teams in the Premier League and even the Coventry band the Specials touring again to loud acclaim. But for local people, it seems that this is not enough to command their loyalty. Given half a chance, three-quarters of the population would leave tomorrow.

Fully 81% of those working in the West Midlands would hotfoot it to the coast or countryside if their work became sufficiently flexible to permit it, while the east Midlands would similarly become a series of ghost towns, according to a study seemingly designed to raise ire in the region.

The survey asked people where they would choose to live if the government's promise of universal broadband access in the next few years allowed them to tap away at a laptop in the destination of their choice.

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The weekly number of new swine flu cases in the UK continues to fall, the chief medical officer said in his latest pandemic flu update. Sir Liam Donaldson said that in the week to August 27 there were an estimated 5,000 new infections, down from 11,000 the week before.