The current jobs crisis is the result of a lack of business confidence and a shortage of consumers with money to spend: the government needs to create a long-term framework to drive innovation and raise productivity across the economy

Last week’s job figures provided a stark reminder of the human impact of austerity and dealt another blow to George Osborne’s hopes of bringing the economy back to growth and paying off the deficit by 2015. Andrew Sissons takes a look at how we got in this position and suggests that the government should commit to more spending on innovation and infrastructure.