UK Joblessness Unchanged at 4.2%, Wage Growth Cools

UK unemployment was steady last month, though bonuses drove up wages by more than expected, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday

Alliance News 14 November, 2023 | 11:00AM
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City of London

UK unemployment was steady last month, though bonuses drove up wages by more than expected, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate for the period from July to September was 4.2%, unchanged from the June to August period. The ONS began to use "experimental" unemployment data last month, owing to a low response rate for its survey.

In the three months to September, annual growth in average total pay, excluding bonuses, was 7.7%. This was in line with market consensus, as cited by FXStreet. The figure for the previous three-month period was 7.8%.

While the pace eased slightly from the prior period, the ONS noted it is still among the highest annual growth rates since comparable records began in 2001.

Including bonuses, average pay growth was 7.9%, which overshot market expectations of 7.4%. It was 8.2% in the three months to August, upwardly revised from 8.1%.

The ONS noted both periods were affected by one-off payments to the civil service in July and August this year.

By Elizabeth Winter, Alliance News senior markets reporter 

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