Bradford has the worst unemployment in the Yorkshire and Humber region, new figures show today.

The district shares with Doncaster the bottom spot in the region's jobless league table.

Unemployment is clustered into 'pockets of poverty', with some areas having jobless rates three times the national average, says the report commissioned by the TUC.

The national jobless rate is at 5.3 per cent but in Bradford it is 8.2 per cent, with 19,000 looking for work.

Today the TUC called for extra funds to be given to regional development agency Yorkshire Forward to help tackle unemployment and poverty.

Some of the worst pockets of poverty nationally are in parts of London - the East London borough of Hackney is even worse than Bradford with a jobless rate of 16.4 per cent. Yorkshire Forward needs extra funding to develop the regional economy in a way that tackles unemployment, poverty and low productivity, says the TUC.

In Yorkshire and Humberside overall the jobless rate is 5.9 per cent, leaving a total of 147,000 looking for work. The TUC believes the percentage actually wanting to work could be as high as 12 per cent.

TUC Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Secretary, Paul Jagger, said: "Unemployment across Yorkshire and Humberside is higher than the national average, but in Bradford it is much higher. "