Unemployment in the United Kingdom rose to 7.2 per cent in the three months ending in April, official figures showed Wednesday, as the recession pushed the number of people out of work to a 12-year high. The rate compared to unemployment of 6.5 per cent in the previous three-month period, the Office for National Statistics said.

The upward trend continued in May as the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose to 1.54 million, up 39,300 from April and more than double the number of a year earlier.

Although there have been recent signs that the recession has bottomed out in Britain, analysts say unemployment is likely to continue to rise for some time.

“Unemployment is now at its highest level since autumn 1996 and it will take years, not months, to recover,” said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.