Britain's unemployment rate dropped and payrolls recovered further at the end of last year despite the onset of the Omicron variant, official data showed Tuesday.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in the three months to the end of November, from 4.2 percent in the quarter ending in October, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

The number of payrolled workers meanwhile jumped 0.6 percent in December from November, the ONS added.

"The number of employees on payrolls continued to grow strongly in December, with the total now well above pre-pandemic levels," said ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan.

He added that the unemployment rate "fell back almost to where it was before Covid-19 hit".

Morgan noted however that job vacancies were growing at a slower pace compared with last summer and that real wages in November fell on the year for the first time since mid-2020 following a spike to inflation.