THE pound tumbled to a new record low against the euro today as unemployment surged by 137,000.Sterling's decline came after it was revealed that the Bank of England considered even larger interest rate cuts than the 1% delivered two weeks ago.

Graham Dines

THE pound tumbled to a new record low against the euro today as unemployment surged by 137,000.

Sterling's decline came after it was revealed that the Bank of England considered even larger interest rate cuts than the 1% delivered two weeks ago.

The pound fell below one euro ten centres, which will add to the financial misery of UK holidaymakers planning festive trips to euro zone countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Cyprus.

However, the rose as high as one dollar 57 cents against the American currency following the Federal Reserve's decision to slash rates to between 0% and 0.25% to stave off a prolonged US slump.

Unemployment increased by 137,000 to 1.86 million between August and October, official figures showed today. The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance last month increased by 75,700 to 1.07 million, said the Office for National Statistics.

Average earnings increased by 3.3% in the year to October, unchanged from the previous month.