AFP, London

Britain’s unemployment rate has reached the highest level since August 2021, official data showed Tuesday, with businesses facing a UK tax hike and US tariffs.

The rate climbed to 4.5 percent in the first quarter, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

That compared with 4.4 percent for the three months to the end of February, the ONS added.

Tuesday’s data covers the period before April’s introduction of a hike to a business tax laid out in the Labour government’s maiden budget in October.

It also precedes a baseline 10-percent tariff imposed on the UK and other countries by US President Donald Trump last month.