Official figures show that Britain's unemployment rate climbed to its highest level for more than three in the first three months of this year.
The Office for National Statistics also said the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in April rose by 7,700 to 945,500, the highest level since June 2003.
But the more widely recognised ILO measure of unemployment moved up to 5.2% in the three months to March, the highest figure since November 2002.
Separate figures showed that annual growth in wages was 4.2% in the first quarter, accelerating from a revised 4.1% in the previous three months. The figure was lower than economists had expected, however. Excluding bonuses, pay growth held steady at 3.8%.
