Britain's unemployment rate reached a higher-than-expected 7.6 percent in the three months to May, the biggest quarterly increase for 28 years, official data showed on Wednesday.

"The unemployment rate was 7.6 percent for the three months to May 2009," the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

"This is the largest quarterly increase in the unemployment rate since 1981," it added. Analysts had forecast an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent.

1. Office for National Statistics