By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The U.K. jobless rate rose in May as the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by less than expected, despite continued gains in overall employment levels.
The Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count fell by 19,700, while the jobless rate rose to 3.8% of the population. Analysts had expected a decline of just under 50,000 in the claimant count. However, March's total was revised to show a bigger decline than originally estimated, at 65,500.
Overall employment, however, continued to grow decently. Another 177,000 jobs were created in the three months through April, more than twice the number for the three months through March and the biggest three-month gain since September.
There were also mixed developments in earnings, where annual growth in earnings including bonuses weakened to 6.8%, while earnings excluding bonuses rose 4.2%, unchanged from the previous month.