LONDON (AP) — The number of jobless in Britain rose further toward the 2 million mark in the three months to October as the economy continues to slow at a dramatic pace, official figures showed Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics said the number of unemployed using the International Labor Organization measure increased by 137,000 in the three months to August to a nine-year high of 1.86 million. The rise took the unemployment rate up to 6.0 percent for the first time since mid-1999, from 5.8 percent the previous month.

The statistics office also said that the number of people claiming the jobseekers allowance — the main benefit available to the newly unemployed — rose by 75,000 in November from the previous month to 1.07 million, its highest level since July 2000. The increase was the biggest since March 1991 when the British economy was last mired in a deep recession.

The increase in the claimant count was bigger than the 50,000 anticipated by economists and provided further evidence that the contraction in British output currently taking place is hitting the labor market hard.

"It is clear that, as in the U.S., conditions in the labor market are now deteriorating very quickly, threatening to feed back into yet further weakness in the housing market and economic activity in general," said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.

Associated Press