Unsecured loans and debt help could become increasingly popular among Brits because unemployment is to rise next year, according to a financial group.

According to chief executive of the not-for-profit initiative, Phil Flaxton, said unemployment numbers should grow during 2010 to around 2.8 million people. "I think unemployment will continue to rise, he stated.

He added that this is because companies and businesses who want to reduce their workforce normally don't like to do so before Christmas.

"The first quarter of the New Year is the time when they are going to make job cuts and redundancies, they typically tend to do it then."

However, he explained that unemployment figures won't reach 3 million, as was predicted earlier this year.

Data from the Office for National Statistics recently showed that the proportion of Brits currently without a job is 7.9 per cent - some 2.49 million people.