UK unemployment rate climbs

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 05:00 Thursday, 18 June 2009 11:18

LONDON: Britain’s unemployment rate hit 7.2 per cent in the three months to April as the number of people claiming jobless benefits jumped to 2.26 million, official data showed on Wednesday. “The unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent in the three months to April 2009, up 0.7 percentage points from the three months to January 2009 and up 1.9 percentage points from a year earlier,” the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

“The number of unemployed people increased by 232,000 over the quarter and by 605,000 over the year, to reach 2.26 million.”

Both the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed stood at their highest levels since 1997 amid a deep recession in Britain. “The claimant count unemployment data boost hopes that the rise in the number of jobless has tailed off appreciably after surging at the beginning of the year,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight consultancy.

Courtesy: The News