UK unemployment is up again - the eighth monthly increase in a row - but it's not as bad as feared.

Total unemployment grew by 48-thousand to 2-point-67 million in the 3 months to December - less than the 80-thousand forecast.

Meanwhile, The Governor of the Bank of England says the UK is unlikely to have entered recession again.

Mervyn King predicts growth of around 1-point-2 percent in 2012.

His quarterly report also predicts inflation will drop to the Government's 2 percent target in the final three months of this year, before falling to as low as 1-point-five in 2013.