The number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen slightly, figures show.
Total unemployment stood at 2.46 million for the three months to December, down 3,000 on the figure for the previous three months.
But long-term unemployment, covering those out of work for more than a year, rose by 37,000 to 663,000, the highest figure since 1997.
And the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance climbed by 23,500 to 1.64 million in January.
'Tough times'
That was the largest increase since July last year - with analysts having expected the number of claimants to fall by about 10,000.
The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
This is the second consecutive month that the wider measure of unemployment has fallen.
But the rise in the claimant count could point to further increases ahead, said John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
"That indicates that the labour market was quite weak at the turn of the year and it might presage further bad news for the reminder of the first half of the year," he said.
Rising levels of people who were underemployed - working part-time when they would prefer to work full-time - gave "a much richer account of the degree to which this recession has impacted on the workforce", Mr Philpott added.
"With a weak economic recovery set to result in further job losses in the coming months, it is highly likely that the unemployment situation will get worse before it starts to get significantly better."
While unemployment for the UK as a whole fell by 3,000, there were some big national and regional differences.
The South East experienced the biggest rise in unemployment during the quarter, up by 12,000, and the West Midlands recorded the biggest fall, down 16,000.
In Scotland, the number of people out of work increased by 10,000, while in Northern Ireland there was a drop of 8,000.
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