Business confidence is rising as the UK economy slowly picks up and looks set to avoid a double-dip recession.

However, the latest figures from the British Chambers of Commerce, which uses data from 8,000 firms nationwide, including Kent, suggests that unemployment will increase to 2.9m.

The BCC's Quarterly Economic Survey, published today, shows encouraging signs of growth but reveals that the pace of recovery is weak. But it found that more businesses are planning increase levels of investment.

Director-general John Longworth said: "It's encouraging to see that businesses are feeling more confident at the start of 2012 than they were at the end of 2011.

"But that underlines the need to support and foster growth and investment by companies to ensure that the increases we have seen in the first quarter continue.

"The UK economy is still facing huge challenges and the recovery is much too slow. The UK has the potential to recover, but to achieve that the government has to set businesses free to grow."

He urged the government to place greater focus on policies to support growth that would enable employers to create jobs, invest, and export.

"As the public sector's share of economic activity shrinks over the next few years, forceful measures are needed to make it possible for businesses to drive recovery."