The "labor-market figures paint a generally weak picture"
- Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics
U.K. unemployment rose to 2.67 million or 8.4 per cent in January, according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics. The number of people claiming for unemployment benefits rose by 7,200 to 1.61 million in February.
The "labor-market figures paint a generally weak picture," said Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics in London. "The recent pickup in economic growth seems to be insufficient to bring down unemployment."
"The rise in unemployment does appear to have moderated recently which supports hopes that the economy is returning to modest growth," said Howard Archer, an economist at HIS Global Insight.
"The unemployment figures aren't too bad in the sense that the level of joblessness remains high, but the level appears to have flattened out," said Philip Shaw from Investec.
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