British jobless rate hits highest level in about 13 years

LONDON, Sept. 16 -- The unemployment rate in Britain increased to 7.9 percent in the three months to July 2009, the highest level since November 1996, the Office for National Statistics reported on Wednesday.

Comparing with the previous three months to April of this year, the British unemployment rate was up by 0.7 percentage and the rate was 2.3 percentage points higher over the same period a year earlier.

The report showed that the number of unemployed people in Britain was 2.47 million in the three months to July 2009, up 210,000 from the three months to April 2009 and up 743,000 from a year earlier.

The number of unemployed men was 1.53 million in the three months to July 2009, up 150,000 from the three months to April 2009. The number of unemployed women was 945,000 in the three months to July 2009, up 60,000 from the three months to April 2009.