Source: GMB union
The government is insisting there are enough vacancies in the system to rule out a return to high unemployment.
But critics say the increasing gap between the UK's buoyant service sector and manufacturing, which is already in recession, is causing serious problems.
'Don't panic'
Apart from an isolated increase in October last year, claimant count unemployment has been falling since 1992 and stood at just over 940,000 in September, a jobless rate of 3.1%.
However, an alternative measure of unemployment which tries to include those people not drawing benefits, went up by 28,000 between July and September to 1.51 million, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Analysts have been predicting a rise in the claimant count for some months, as big job losses in manufacturing feed through into the dole queue.
But employment minister Nick Brown urged people not to panic.
"The UK economy is in a very strong position," he told BBC News 24.
Mr Brown reassured those who had lost their job that the government would do all it could to help them find another one.
"The government is there to help, to stand in their corner, to get them into the jobs that we know are there, in a UK economy that is very strongly placed," he said.
'National crisis'
But Roger Lyons, general secretary of the Manufacturing Science and Finance union, said Wednesday's figures still did not take into account some of the huge job cuts announced in recent weeks by firms including Rolls-Royce and the Prudential.
"It is an indication that we are on the brink of a national economic crisis.
"The Prime Minister has asked people to spend for Britain - we believe the most patriotic thing employers can do is hold on to their staff during this crisis for the good of the economy."
Manufacturing losses
Manufacturing job losses have increased by more than 30% in the wake of the 11 September atrocities in the United States, according to a survey by the GMB union.
Redundancies in the sector topped 10,500 last month compared with 7,600 in September, research found.
Almost 100,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost this year, said the report.
Among the hardest hit sectors were aero engineering, where 4,600 jobs have been axed, including 3,800 at Rolls-Royce, electronics and mobile phone manufacturing, where 1,700 jobs have been lost.
But some sectors of the economy, such as retail, are continuing to grow strongly.
DIY giant B&Q announced plans on Wednesday to create 4,000 jobs over the next year.
Wage increases slow
Separate figures released on Wednesday show average earnings increased by 4.4% in the year to September, down by 0.1% against previous month.
This will add to the downward pressure on inflation already present in the economy, which could pave the way for further cuts in interest rates.
The underlying rate of inflation in the UK remained unchanged last month at 2.3%, below the government's target rate of 2.5%, figures showed.