Unemployment rate rises as UK faces deepening economic gloom

New figures also signal more people are choosing to return to work

Britain’s rate of unemployment has risen again and the number of vacancies fell back further in a sign of a weakening jobs market, official figures have shown.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of UK unemployment rose to 3.7% in the three months to October, up from 3.6% in the previous quarter.

The data also showed that vacancies dropped by 65,000 in the three months to November to 1.9 million – the fifth quarterly fall in a row and the first annual fall since the beginning of last year.