The U.K. unemployment rate fell to a five-year low in the first quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday.
The ILO jobless rate declined to 6.8 percent during January to March, in line with expectations, from 7.2 percent in October to December.
Average earnings pay including bonuses increased 1.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. Excluding bonuses, average income advanced 1.3 percent.
There were 1.12 million people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in April, which was down 25,100 from March. Jobless claims, a narrow measure of unemployment, was expected to fall by 30,000.
The claimant count has fallen for 18 consecutive months, ONS said. The claimant count rate came in at 3.3 percent versus 3.4 percent in March.
Partly due to more self-employed people, employment rose by 283,000 from the prior quarter to 30.43 million in January to March period.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.