Corrects the month in first and third paragraphs
The U.K. unemployment rate held steady in the three months to March period, the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday.
The ILO jobless rate remained at 5.1 percent, unchanged from December and matched economists' expectations.
At the same time, the employment rate was 74.2 percent in three months to March, the highest since the comparable records began in 1971.
Average earnings for employees increased by 2 percent including bonuses and by 2.1 percent excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier.
In April, the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits decreased by 2,400 from March, while economists expected it to increase by 4,500.
The claimant count fell to 2.1 percent in April as expected from 2.2 percent in March.
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