The number of jobless Britons fell in the three months to February, marking the first quarterly decline in almost a year, official data showed on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement that the number of unemployed fell by 35,000 over the period to 2.65 million people.
That was the first quarterly decline since the three months to May 2011. The unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent, down from 8.4 percent in the three months to January. Market expectations had been for no change.
The ONS also revealed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose in March by the smallest monthly amount since December. The so-called claimant count of people registered for unemployment benefits increased by 3,600 in March from February to 1.61 million. However, that was the highest total since October 2009.