UK unemployment jumped by the most since 1981 in the first quarter, but the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose much less than expected in April.

The unemployment rate reached 7.1 per cent by the end of March compared with 6.3 per cent at the end of December, the Office of National Statistics reported. That leaves 2.22m people unemployed, up 244,000 since December and the highest number of unemployed since 1996, the year before Labour came to power.