LONDON (Reuters) - The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefit fell in November for the first time in almost two years, suggesting the labour market may have turned after a recession which has cost nearly a million jobs.

Official data showed on Wednesday that claimant count unemployment fell by 6,300 last month, confounding expectations for a rise of 13,300 and probably lifting government hopes of economic recovery before an election due by June.

Opinion polls predict the government will lose that contest but party strategists are hoping a rebound from an 18 month-long recession will help narrow and eventually overturn the Conservatives' commanding lead.

The pound rose against the euro as investors bet the economy is now on the mend.

"It reinforces the point that the economy is probably not contracting as much as the Q3 GDP data suggested and reinforces the case that the Q4 GDP will show a robust pace of expansion," said Alan Clarke, UK economist at BNP Paribas.

October's claimant count rise was more than halved to 5,900.

And the number of people without a job on the wider ILO measure rose by 21,000 in the three months to October to 2.491 million: the smallest quarterly increase since May 2008 and leaving the jobless rate at 7.9 percent, as expected.