LONDON - The British unemployment rate increased to 8.0 percent for the first three months of this year, comparing with the previous three months to October, the highest level since 1996, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported Wednesday.

The report showed that the number of unemployed people in the UK increased by 27,000 over the previous three months to 2.53 million in the three months to January, the highest total since 1994.

The jobless rate for those aged from 16 to 24 increased by 0.8 percent to 20.6 percent, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992. The number of unemployed among those aged from 16 to 24 increased by 30,000 on the quarter to reach 974,000, also the highest figure since comparable records started in 1992.

The UK employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 for the three months to January of 2011 was 70.5 percent, down by 0.1 percent over the previous quarter.