British unemployment hits 41-year low

London: Britain`s unemployment rate has struck the lowest level for more than 41 years, official data showed on Wednesday as the country prepares to trigger its exit from the EU.

However a drop in the jobless rate comes alongside news of slowing wages growth.

Unemployment for the quarter ending January 31 fell to 4.7 percent from a rate of 4.8 percent in the final three months of 2016, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

"The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in the three months to January 2017... It has not been lower since June to August 1975," the ONS said.

Analysts` consensus forecast had been for an unchanged rate of 4.8 percent, which would have kept unemployment at an 11-year low point.

"The labour market is currently seeing decent improvement, reflecting the economy`s resilience through the second half of 2016," Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Markit, said in reaction to Wednesday`s data.

"However, markedly slowing earnings growth reinforces the squeeze on consumers coming from rising inflation - and this is likely to increasingly weigh down increasingly on economic activity."