MW: U.K. unemployment falls to 8% in second quarter
By Sara Sjolin
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The unemployment rate in the U.K. fell to 8% in the three months to June 2012, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. Compared to the same quarter last year, the unemployment rate edged 0.1 percentage points higher. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected the unemployment rate to fall to 8.1%. The claimant count, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits, fell by 5,900 in July to 1.59 million compared to June, but was up by 35,600 on the year.
