Britain's unemployment rate rose to its highest in 2-1/2 years last month, data showed on Wednesday, suggesting an expected rebound in consumer spending may prove elusive.
The Office for National Statistics also said large financial sector bonuses pushed annual average earnings growth up much more than expected in the three months to February, an effect economists said won't likely be repeated in future months.
While most analysts took the figures to be modestly negative for Britain's growth outlook, the data did little to alter expectations that interest rates will remain steady at 4.5 percent for some months to come.
The ONS said the March claimant count rose by 12,600 compared with an analysts' forecast for a 6,500 rise. February's jump, already the biggest since December 1992, was revised up to 19,900 from 14,600.
The rise and revisions to the data lifted the claimant count jobless rate to 3.0 percent, its highest since October 2003.
"A 32,000 rise in unemployment in the last two months is a worrying sign that last year's weak demand is feeding through, with the usual lags, to the labour market," said Geoffrey Dicks, UK economist at RBS.
"Once City bonuses have washed through, we will be left with modest earnings growth and rising unemployment - not the recipe for a rebound in consumer spending," he added.
Average earnings in the three months to February were 4.2 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with analysts' forecast of a 3.6 percent rate.
That comes after a year of record profits for financial services firms.
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