LONDON (AP) ― Britain’s unemployment rate edged up to 8.4 percent in the last quarter of 2011, official figures showed Wednesday, as 48,000 people lost their jobs compared with the previous three-month period.

The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate has not been higher since 1995. It rose from 8.3 percent in the three months through September and was unchanged from the three months through November.

Wages excluding bonuses were up 2 percent, compared with 1.9 percent in the three months through November. Total pay including bonuses was up 2 percent, unchanged from the previous report.

Pay has increased slowly during a period when inflation shot as high as 5.2 percent in September. The latest data show inflation has dropped to 3.6 percent, and some analysts think it might drop to around 1 percent by the end of the year.

“The latest figures show some encouraging signs of stability despite the challenging economic climate,” said David Freud, the minister for welfare reform.