London: Britain`s unemployment has fallen to 6.6 percent, the lowest rate for more than five years, according to official data on Wednesday that also revealed however a drop in wages growth.
Unemployment in the February-April quarter dropped from a rate of 6.8 percent during the three months to the end of March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. That had also been a five-year low.
At 6.6 percent, the rate was at its lowest level since December 2008.
The number of unemployed has meanwhile dropped to 2.16 million people, the ONS added on Wednesday.
"Despite all this good news on jobs, pay growth in the UK economy has slumped. Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses rose year-on-year in the three months to April 2014 by just 0.9 percent," noted Rob Harbron, senior economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Analysts said the drop in wages growth would lessen the pressure on the Bank of England to begin raising its main interest rate, which has stood at a record-low 0.50 percent for more than five years.
"While the unemployment rate is continuing to fall, there is still enough slack in the jobs market to prevent wage growth from picking up," said Samuel Tombs, at consultants Capital Economics.
