UK Jobless Rate Rises In April

(RTTNews) - The UK unemployment rate rose slightly in the three months to April period, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday.

The ILO jobless rate rose to 4.6 percent, as expected, from 4.5 percent in the preceding period.

Average earnings including bonus grew 5.3 percent in three months to April from the previous year. The rate came in line with expectations.

Excluding bonus, average earnings climbed 5.2 percent from a year ago but slower than the forecast of 5.5 percent.

During three months to May, the number of vacancies declined 63,000 from the previous quarter to 736,000. This was the 35th consecutive quarterly decline.

In May, payroll employees decreased 109,000 from the previous month to 30.2 million.

Data showed that about 47,0000 working days were lost due to labor disputes in April.