The government is to offer firms a “golden handshake” of up to 2,500 pounds for every person they recruit who has been unemployed for more than six months. Total cost of the initiative is expected to be around 500 million pounds.

Unemployment in Britain rose to 1.86 million people in the three months to October, equal to six percent of the workforce and the highest rate since the three months to June 1999.

Some commentators forecast it could rise as high as three million by the end of the year.

Gordon Brown is hosting a jobs summit today, bringing employers, union leaders and sector representatives together to discuss how to tackle the growing problem of joblessness.

The Conservatives have called it yet another government announcement on jobs that is more spin than substance and the employers group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) say the only answer is to get the banks lending to firms again. 

Do you think anything is likely to come of the jobs summit? What would you like to see the government do to protect employment?