The UK’s jobless rate rose for the first time in nearly two years during the three months ending December 2017, or the fourth quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, wage growth remained stable, data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics showed on Wednesday last week.

The UK’s unemployment rate was seen rising by 0.1 percentage point to register a 4.4% unemployment rate during the period ending December 2017.

The increase in the unemployment rate was the first in nearly two years.

Economists were expecting to see the UK’s unemployment rate remain stable at 4.3% for the period.

The number of persons who were unemployment increased by 46,000 during the period rising to a total of 1.47 million.

The employment rate was also seen rising to 75.2% compared to 74.6% the year before. The number of people who were working rose 88,000 during the period to 32.15 million.

The average earnings data including bonuses were seen rising 2.5% on the year in the quarter ending December 2017.

This was the same pace of increase compared to the previous three months ending November and was seen to be in line with expectations.

Excluding bonuses, wage growth was also stable, rising 2.5% at an annual pace. However, with the recent inflation data registering a 3.0% increase, wage growth continued to lag.

With the wage growth data holding steady, speculation remains that the Bank of England might opt for a rate hike as early as May.

The claimant count change fell 2.3% compared to 2.4% previously with the number of unemployed claiming unemployment benefits falling 7,200 in the month of January.

Data from the ONS further showed that the output per hour had increased 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2017.