The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits last month rose in line with expectations but the wider measure of the unemployment rate dipped in August to its lowest level for more than a year.
The Office for National Statistics said the number of people claiming jobless benefit rose by 5,300 last month, slightly above forecasts for a rise of 5,000.
It is the biggest rise since January and came after August's upwardly revised increase of 3,800.
However, the number of people without a job on the wider ILO measure, which examines the number available to work or actively seeking employment, fell by 20,000 to 2.45 million in the three months to August.
That took the jobless rate down to 7.7 per cent from 7.8 per cent - the lowest since May 2009.
The mixed figures will do little to change expectations that Britain's labour market is in a fragile state ahead of a fiscal squeeze that could see hundreds of thousands of job losses in the public sector over the next five years.
Employment rose by 178,000 to 29.16 million in the three months to August, mainly due to a 143,000 rise in the number of part-time workers.
The number of people employed by companies in full-time jobs fell by 17,000.
Average weekly earnings rose by 1.7 per cent in the three months to August compared with a year ago, slightly above expectations for a 1.6 percent increase.
Earnings excluding bonuses rose 2 per cent - the biggest rise since June 2009.
Reuters