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British unemployment rate drops to 5.5 pct in July

Xinhua, September 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The British unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in the three months to July 2015, unchanged compared with February to April 2015 but lower than the 6.2 percent of a year earlier, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Wednesday.

The unemployment rate is lower than the market estimation consensus of 5.6 percent.

In the three months to July 2015, there were 1.82 million unemployed people, 10,000 more than for February to April 2015, though 198,000 fewer than for a year earlier, said ONS.

The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 over the same period was 73.5 percent, little changed compared with February to April 2015, figures showed.

There were 31.09 million people in employment aged 16 and over, 42,000 more than for February to April 2015 and 413,000 more than a year earlier, according to the British government's statistics department.

In the same period, British employees' total pay (including bonuses) and regular pay (excluding bonuses) both increased by 2.9 percent, noted ONS.

Claims for unemployment benefits, however, increased slightly from the previous month by 1,200 to total 791,700 in August 2015. Compared with a year earlier, it was down by 183,100, data also showed. Endit