The unemployment rate in Britain hit a 14-year high in the second quarter, the Office of National Statistics said Wednesday.

Unemployment reached 7.8 percent in the U.K., as the number of people with jobs dropped by 271,000 to 28.9 million. For the year, the number of employed persons has dropped by 573,000, ONS said.

The employment picture worsened on several fronts with the number of inactive persons of working age -- those no longer looking for work -- increasing and the average income growth, excluding bonuses, dropping.

The number claiming the Jobseeker Allowance benefit reached 1.58 million in July, the highest since May 1997, the report said.

In addition, the 427,000 job vacancies in the three months to July was the lowest since the ONS began tracking the figure in 2001.