LONDON: Unemployment in the United Kingdom has risen to 8.3% from 8.1% a month ago.
The rate published on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics was the highest since January 1996.
The agency said the number of unemployed people increased by 129,000 in the July-September quarter compared to the previous three months. That was the biggest quarterly increase in two years.
Unemployment has risen as Britain's economy has grown slowly over the last year. The number of people out of work for more than two years rose to 422,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous three months.