MNI BRIEF: UK Wages Growth Slows, But Outpace Expectations
Wage growth is slowing across the UK, but still at a rate the BOE will find
UK wage growth slowed in the three months to February, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday, although they are still rising marginally above expectations of City analysts and the Bank of England. Average regular earnings (ex-bonuses) rose 6.0%, with total earnings (including bonuses) up 5.6%. Real wages rose 1.9% and 1.6% respectively. (MNI INTERVIEW: UK Consumers Upbeat On Personal Finances - GfK)
Payrolled employees in the UK fell by a flash 18,000 to 30.3 million. Increased volatility of Labour Force Survey estimates, resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes, means that estimates of quarterly change should be treated with additional caution, and we recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside Workforce Jobs, Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.
The Labour force survey unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in December 2023 to February 2024, up from 3.9% last month, although the ONS again warned on the volatility of the data.
Source: ONS