Jobless rate continues slow upward trend

Unemployment rose slightly for the seventh consecutive month, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Unemployment under the claimant count, which only includes those drawing Jobseeker's Allowance, rose by 1,600 to 866,200 in August.

However, the unemployment rate was steady at 2.8% and is at its lowest level since June 1975.

The number of unemployed men on benefit rose to 644,000 (a 3.8% rate), and the number of unemployed women rose to 222,200 (a 1.6% rate).

Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count - the government's preferred measure which includes people not eligible for benefits- unemployment was up by 12,000 to 1.42 million in the three months to July compared with the previous quarter.

The unemployment rate of 4.7% was unchanged on the previous quarter.

The number of unemployed men rose by 8,000 on the previous quarter to 836,000 (a 5.1% rate) and the number of unemployed women rose by 4,000 to 582,000 women (a 4.2% rate).

Official figures show 144,000 people said they had been made redundant in the three months to July - up 15,000 on the previous quarter.

Employment in manufacturing fell by 95,000 to 3.2 million in the three months to July - a 2.9% fall on a year ago.