UK unemployment levels have risen for the first time in more than two years, official figures showed today.
The number of jobless in the UK increased by 15,000 to 1.85 million in the three months to May, the Office for National Statistics said.
It was the first quarterly increase in the number since the three months to March 2013.
"It's possible that the rate of improvement in the labour market that we have seen over the last three years may have eased off, though it is too early to be certain," the ONS said.
But the figures also showed that pay rises continued to accelerate, with average weekly earnings up by 3.2% year-on-year in the three months to May, up from 2.7% in the three months to April.
It is the strongest rate since April 2010 and with inflation hovering at around zero, it means that real terms pay is improving at a rate not seen for nearly eight years.
Regular pay excluding bonuses rose by 2.8%, the highest rate since February 2009.
Today's figures show that the unemployment rate rose to 5.6% after sinking to 5.5% in the three months to April.
There were 30.98 million people in work in the UK in the latest three-month period, 67,000 fewer than in the preceding period. It was the first quarterly fall since April 2013.
While the number of part-time workers fell by 97,000, the number of full-time workers increased by 30,000, the figures showed.
Numbers claiming unemployment-related benefit in June rose by 7,000 to 804,200, the first monthly increase since October 2012.
Speculation about the reason for the rise in unemployment may focus on the fact that the figures cover a period of business uncertainty in the run-up to the general election.
Statisticians said they had no anecdotal evidence to either support or discount the theory.
The worsening jobs picture may also be linked to a weaker-than-expected period of UK economic growth at the start of 2015, but statisticians were also unable to comment on this.
It comes a day after expectations about a hike in interest rates was heightened by comments from Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who said the timing of a rise was moving closer.
An increase in joblessness may be thought to weaken the likelihood of a hike, though this would be mitigated by the continuing improvement in pay settlements.
Today's data showed the number of those classed as economically inactive rose by 30,000 to 9.02 million in the three months to May.
This was mainly due to more people with long-term sickness. The group also includes students and people looking after the family or home.
Youth unemployment - for people aged 16 to 24 - fell by 13,000 to 729,000.
The number of people unemployed for more than 12 months reduced by 53,000 to 570,000.
