U.K. Unemployment Falls as Labor Market Remains Resilient

U.K. jobless claims unexpectedly fell in November and a wider measure of unemployment dropped the most in 11 years, underlining the resilience of the labor market in the face of a weak recovery.

Unemployment-benefit claims declined by 3,000 from October to 1.58 million, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 25 economists in a Bloomberg News Survey was for a gain of 7,000. Unemployment measured by International Labour Organization methods dropped 82,000 to 2.51 million in the three months through October, the biggest drop since 2001. The jobless rate held at 7.8 percent.