UK jobless rates holds at 7.8 per cent

LONDON: Unemployment in the United Kingdom held at 7.8 per cent in the three months ending in December but the number of people claiming benefits has reached a 12-year high, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits, the Jobseeker's Allowance, rose by 23,500 in January to 1.64 million, the agency said, the highest figure since April 1997.

The number of people out of work for more than a year rose by 37,000 in the last quarter of 2009 to 663,000, also the highest since 1997.

The unemployment rate, which peaked at 7.9 per cent during the current recent recession, was the same as the rate reported in January for the three months through November.