The government's handling of the economic crisis has come under fire again after the International Monetary Fund warned that the UK will suffer a longer recession than other major countries.

The latest economic forecasts from the IMF, which come as unemployment today surged through the 2 million mark, show that the UK economy will contract by 3.8% this year - a much more severe slump than the government has admitted. The IMF also predicted that Britain will be the only country to keep shrinking through 2010.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne seized on the forecast, saying that it showed that the recession in Britain will be longer and deeper because of Labour's economic policies.

"These IMF forecasts show that Britain is set to have the longest recession of all the major economies," said Osborne. "It is further evidence that Gordon Brown's economic model is fundamentally broken and his policies on the recession aren't working."

If the IMF's figures are correct, they could shatter Labour's chances of winning a fourth consecutive term in office. A Guardian/ICM opinion poll published today shows that if it can show that the economy is recovering by May 2010 - the likely date of the next election.

The figures were not expected to be officially published until April, but they were released yesterday by Teresa Ter-Minassian, an adviser to IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

They show that the US economy is expected to contract by 2.6% this year, the eurozone by 3.2%, and Japan by 5%. The overall world economy is forecast to shrink by 0.6% this year - the first annual global contraction since the second world war.

2 million, and counting

The government faces more criticism after it was confirmed this morning that unemployment smashed through the 2 million mark to reach its highest level since 1997.

Analysts said the grim figures reinforce fears that the grinding economic crisis will send unemployment above 3 million within two years. Howard Archer of Global Insight predicted that unemployment will peak at 3.3 million on the ILO measure around the end of 2010. Accountancy firm BDO Story Hayward warned on Monday that it expects 36,000 business to fail in 2009, and another 39,000 in 2010 - which would help to send the jobless figures soaring.

One of the main contributors to the jump in unemployment in January was the collapse of high street chain Woolworths, which had employed around 30,000 people. But jobs were also lost across the economy, including 400 IT staff at Barclays, 450 at Jaguar Land Rover, and several hundred at Land of Leather.

Unemployment has been rising steadily since January 2008, with the pace increasing as retailers, manufacturers and banks all suffering from the downturn. There are now 10 jobseekers chasing every vacancy, putting pressure on job centres around the country.

As this interactive graphic shows, parliamentary constituencies across the country have been hit by the increase in unemployment.

The picture is just as bleak across the Atlantic, where unemployment has hit a 28-year high. More than 600,000 jobs are being lost each month - the highest figure since the end of the second world war.

Even those who manage to cling onto their jobs are suffering a drop in income. Engineering firm Renishaw has asked staff to accept a 20% cut in pay, while carworkers at Toyota have agreed a 10% wage cut.

Some government ministers are concerned that women will bear the brunt of the impending job cuts, while economist Danny Blanchflower is very concerned about the impact of youth unemployment. Blanchflower, who sits on the Bank of England's rate-setting committee, has warned that losing a job early in one's career can have a devastating long-term impact.