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The number now stands at 2.1 million after rising 177,000 between December 2008 and February of this year, meaning more people may be looking for ways to earn extra money.
Jobless benefit claimants also increased, climbing 73,700 to 1.46 million last month.
However, this figure was not as high as expected, despite the fact that the unemployment rate has risen 0.6 per cent to 6.7 per cent in the three months to February.
Annual growth in average earnings fell far steeper than expected and is the "headline grabber" of the figures, Ross Walker of RBS Financial Markets told the BBC.
The statistic fell to 0.1 per cent for the three-month period, down from 1.7 per cent.
"We all thought it [the figure] would fall significantly, but it has fallen much much, more sharply," he was quoted as saying.
Yesterday, search engine company Yahoo! announced it is shedding five per cent of its workforce - around 700 employees.
