MNI BRIEF: UK Labour Market Slows, But Wages Holding Up
Unemployment rate higher and vacancies slow, but wage growth remains at elevated levels.
The UK labour Market continued to slow in the three months to March, pushing the new Labour Force Survey unemployment rate up to 4.3% from 4.2% previously. Overall payroll numbers fell by 85,000 to 30.2 million in the three months to April, the Office for National Statistics said. (see MNI INTERVIEW: Better ONS Data Suggest Easing UK Labour Market)
“We continue to see tentative signs that the jobs market is cooling, with both employment from our household survey and the number of workers on payroll showing falls in the latest periods,"ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said Tuesday, noting also that the number of job vacancies declined for a twenty-second consecutive month.
However, wage growth continues to sit at an elevated level, with pay deals unchanged or at a slightly higher level than in the preceeding period, which will be of some concern to policymakers at the Bank of England. Total wage growth was 5.7% in the year to March, up from 5.6% last month. (see MNI INTERVIEW: UK Pay Deals Slow To Around 5% In H1-Brightmine)