LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - British unemployment hit its highest rate since January 1997 in the three months to May, although the number of people signing on to claim jobless benefit rose by much less than expected last month, official data showed on Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics said claimant count unemployment rose by 23,800 in June, much less than analysts' forecasts for a rise of 40,500 and lower than May's downwardly-revised increase of 30,800.
Still, the claimant count rate rose to 4.8 percent, its highest since November 1997.
The wider ILO measure of unemployment rose by 281,000 in the three months to May, the biggest quarterly increase since records began in 1971 and taking the jobless rate up to 7.6 percent. That was the highest since January 1997 and exceeded forecasts for a rise to 7.4 percent.
The figures are broadly in line with policymakers' expectations that unemployment will keep rising even as economic conditions start to stabilise.
Average earnings including bonuses rose at their fastest pace since December, up 2.3 percent in the three months to May compared with a year ago. Excluding bonuses, however, average pay rose 2.6 percent in the three months, the lowest since records began in 2001.