MNI BRIEF: UK Jobs Growth At 6-Year High; Earnings Moderate

UK employment surged in the three months to August, rising by an as-expected 235,000, the biggest rise since the three months to September 2015, according to data released by the ONS on Tuesday. That took the unemployment rate down to 4.5%, in line with forecasts, the lowest level since the three months to August 2020.

More recent RTI data, which measure salaried employment, rose by a record-high 207,000, some 122,000 above the level of February 2020. Wage growth moderated, with total earnings rising by an annual rate of 7.2% in the three months to August, slightly above expectations, from 8.3% in the three months to July. Regular earnings rose by 6.0%, down from 6.8% in the previous period.

Statisticians estimate that underlying regular earnings rose by an annual rate of between 4.1% and 5.6%. Vacancies continued to soar, jumping by 239,000 in the the third quarter, up 370,000 from pre-Covid levels, touching a record-high of 1.2 million in September,