Britain’s unemployment rate has risen to its highest level for nearly a year as further cracks show in the jobs market, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of UK unemployment rose to 4.3% in the three months to March, which is the highest since May to July last year and up from 4.2% in the previous three months. The figures also showed regular average earnings growth remaining unchanged at 6% in the three months to March. While this helped wages outstrip Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation by 2.4% – the highest since the three months to August 2021 – it is unhelpful for the Bank of England in its battle to rein in inflation. The Bank is watching wages closely as it looks to bring CPI back to its 2% target, and cooling earnings growth is seen as being key to paving the way for it to begin cutting interest rates. Most economists were expecting earnings growth to fall to 5.9%. Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “We continue to see tentative signs that the jobs market is cooling, with both employment from our household survey and the number of workers...