British Jobless Rate Up: Britain’s unemployment rate...

British Jobless Rate Up: Britain’s unemployment rate hit 8.3% last month in the first increase in nearly two years, the government said. In a separate report, the government said July retail sales rose 0.4% from June and was 1.4% higher than a year ago. The Treasury said the new data--which initially drove stocks higher--offered mixed signals about the economy. The number of people out of work and claiming benefits increased by 1,700 in July, taking the seasonally adjusted total to 2,315,300, or 8.3% of the work force. It was the first rise since August, 1993.