British unemployment rate climbs to 7.2 pc

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 Wednesday.

"The unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent in the three months to April 2009, up 0.7 per centage points from the three months to January 2009 and up 1.9 per centage 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, chief Britain economist at the IHS Global Insight consultancy in London.

"Specifically, claimant count unemployment rose by 39,300 in May which was the smallest increase for 10 months. This was down from increases of 49,600 in April, 65,500 in March and 136,600 in February," he noted.