LONDON (Reuters) –- The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits rose for a second month in September, raising concerns that the labour market is faltering even before drastic government spending cuts kick in.

Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democrat government intends to whittle down a record budget deficit to almost nothing over five years and will next week outline how some £80 billion of cuts will be spread across departments.

The austerity measures are expected to cost hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs, and a report by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers has suggested just as many private sector jobs are at risk as government contracts are axed.

The coalition says a strong private sector recovery should help to fill the gap created by government cuts. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 5,300 last month — the biggest rise since January, following an upwardly revised 3,800 increase in August, yesterday's figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.