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UK wage growth slowed in the three months to November as employers cut headcount in the run-up to the Budget, according to official data that will help to reassure the Bank of England inflationary pressures are easing.
Annual growth of 4.5 per cent in average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, was in line with analysts’ expectations and down from growth of 4.6 per cent in the three months to October.
Private sector wage growth, which BoE policymakers view as a key indicator of underlying inflationary pressure in the economy, slowed more sharply to 3.6 per cent in the three months to November, compared with 7.8 per cent growth in the public sector.
Meanwhile the unemployment rate remained at 5.1 per cent, hovering at its highest level since early 2021, following a long period of weak hiring.
The Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday that payroll employment was 155,000 or 0.5 per cent lower than a year earlier in the three months to November.
Provisional figures showed a further fall of 43,000 or 0.1 per cent in December, following Rachel Reeves’ tax-raising Budget, although these figures are provisional and likely to be revised.
This is a developing story