The number of Britons out of work and claiming benefits rose for a fifth month running in June and by its largest amount since the slump of the early 1990s, in a sign the economic slowdown is starting to bite.
The Office for National Statistics said claimant count unemployment rose by 15,500 last month after an upwardly revised 14,300 increase in May.
That was the biggest jump since a 71,000 rise in December 1992 and above analysts' forecasts for an increase of 10,000. The sterling fell after the larger than expected rise in claims encouraged investors to bet that interest rates may fall to shore up the economy even as inflation rises.
At 2.6 per cent last month, however, the proportion of working age people claiming benefits is a far cry from the near 10 per cent rates seen in the early 1990s when the economy was in recession.
But economists said unemployment was set to rise further.
"It is a sign of things to come over the next year as the economy weakens," said Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec.
Annual average earnings growth in the three months to May eased to 3.8 per cent from 3.9 per cent in April, the ONS said. That was slightly higher than expected but still shows higher living costs have yet to feed through to wages.
The government and the Bank of England are concerned that the highest inflation in at least a decade - consumer price inflation hit 3.8 per cent last month, way above the Bank's 2 per cent target - will lead workers to demand much higher pay and embed sharp price rises.
Hundreds of thousands of local government staff went on strike on Wednesday in protest over pay, arguing that wage settlements are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living.
While record fuel and food prices look likely to keep up pressure for industrial action, economists say labour market weakness should help tame pay pressures and eventually allow the Bank to cut interest rates.
With house prices falling, construction firms have announced around 4,000 job cuts this month. Thousands of workers in the financial sector are also expected to lose their jobs as the credit crunch continues to take a toll.
"With wages failing to keep pace with the cost of living and unemployment rising, the outlook for consumer spending remains grim," said James Knightley, an economist at ING.
"Our view remains that rate hikes remain unlikely and that the policy rate will be moved aggressively lower from early next year onwards as inflation starts to drop."