Unemployment rate in the UK rose by 21,000 to 2.49 million in the three months to October, the smallest quarterly increase in 18 months, newspapers reported today.

According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics, unemployment rate is now 7.9 percent, the highest level recorded in 13 years, The Times said.

However, unemployment rate in the UK remains positive, if compared with recent figures of 10 percent in the US and an average of 9.8 percent in the euro zone, The Financial Times reported.

People claiming jobless benefits fell by 6,300 to 1.6 million in November for the first time since February last year, “a key sign that the U.K. is finally emerging from a deep and protracted downturn,” The Wall Street Journal said.

There was also a sharp rise in the employment level, up to 53,000 in the quarter to October, due to an increase in women in part-time jobs, according to the Financial Times.

The data also showed that the number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work went up to 952,000 from August to October, recording a quarterly increase of 6,000.  The number of people out of work for more than a year rose by 49,000 in the latest quarter to 620,000, the highest since 1997.

Work and pensions secretary,Yvette Cooper,  said today’s figures showed that the government’s efforts to create jobs and work experiences for young people were paying dividends. She told The Guardian: “To see these falls in unemployment at this stage in the recession is a very, very different picture to the one we saw in 1980s and 1990s.”

Howard Archer, chief UK and European Economist at IHS Global Insight, the world’s largest consultancy on economics, told The Times the data are “encouraging” and “a welcome boost for recovery prospects.” He described the fall in the claimant count ” as  “a very welcome surprise”.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the job numbers could prove a major boost to the Labour party, especially in the upcoming elections next year.

Analysts claim now that unemployment may peak at about 2.7 million next year, much less than the 3 million forecast a few months ago. But economists have warned that labour market recovery is likely to be slow, with above 2 million people remaining unemployed for the first half of the next decade, The Financial Times said.