London: The UK unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in the three months from February to April, marking its highest level since July 2021, according to official data released Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
According to Anadolu Agency, the figure represents a 0.2 percentage point increase compared to the previous three-month period. It also exceeded market estimates, which had forecast an April unemployment rate of 4.5%.
The number of unemployed people stood at approximately 1.6 million as of April. Despite the rise in unemployment, the employment rate inched up by 0.1 percentage points to 75.1%, with the total number of employed individuals reaching 34 million.
Meanwhile, the economic inactivity rate -- which measures the proportion of the working-age population that is neither employed nor actively seeking work -- declined by 0.2 percentage points to 21.3%.