UK unemployment has risen to 2.52 million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

ONS figures showed 15,000 more people were unemployed in the three months to the end of March, with the unemployment rate now at 7.8%.

Jobseeker's Allowance claimants fell by 7,300 last month to 1.52 million.

But despite this an ONS spokesman told the BBC the figures suggested the recent period of falling unemployment "seems to have come to an end".

The total number of people in employment fell by 43,000 to 29.7 million, although the number of vacancies was at its highest level since 2008.

The figures also reveal the degree of the slowdown in pay growth.

Average earnings increased by 0.4% in the year to March, compared with a rate of 0.8% in the year to February.

That is the lowest rate of growth since 2009, and means wages are continuing to fall in real terms, with inflation still well above the target rate of 2%.

When bonuses are stripped out, the picture appears even worse. Earnings grew by 0.8% over the year - the lowest rate of increase since the ONS began reporting the figure in its current format 12 years ago.

bbc.co.uk