New figures released today by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that unemployment levels in the country are lower than previously expected.

According to the statistics, unemployment in the UK is growing at its slowest rate in 18 months, which may indicate positive news for the country's jobs market, reports This Is Money.

Economist at BNP Paribas Alan Clarke is quoted by the site as telling Reuters that it is "quite a pleasant surprise" that fewer people were made redundant than expected by analysts.

The news provider quotes him as stating: "Unemployment up by 30,000 is a fraction of what it was doing several months ago. That is consistent with GDP no longer collapsing."

Unemployment in the UK now stands at 7.8 per cent, although it was expected that the ONS figures would reveal a rate of eight per cent.

This news comes after the Times reported this week that official ONS were predicted to show that 100,000 graduates from 2008 and 2009 are currently jobless in the UK.