AFP, LONDON: Britain's unemployment rate climbed to 5.6 per cent in the quarter ending in May, with the number of jobless up for the first time in over two years, data showed yesterday.
Unemployment edged up from 5.5 per cent in the quarter ending in February, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
The number of unemployed rose by 15,000 to 1.85 million, the first quarterly increase since March 2013, the ONS added.
"It's possible that the rate of improvement in the labour market that we have seen over the last three years may have eased off, though it is too early to be certain," said ONS statistician Nick Palmer.
Analysts said the data could see the Bank of England wait a little longer before raising its main interest rate for the first time in several years, despite governor Mark Carney on Tuesday saying that the time for a hike is moving closer.
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.