UK wage growth slows again, unemployment rate ticks up

UK wage growth eased again in the three months to January, while the unemployment rate ticked higher, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics, raising rate cut expectations.

Average regular pay growth excluding bonuses was 6.1%, down from 6.2% in the previous quarter. This marked the slowest growth in more than a year but was in line with expectations.

Real regular wages, which take into account consumer price inflation, were up 2%. This was the highest since the summer of 2019.

The unemployment rate edged up to 3.9% in the three months to January from 3.8%, versus expectations for it be unchanged.

The data also showed that the number of vacancies fell again, from 928,000 in the three months to January to a 32-month low of 908,000 in the three months to February.

ONS director of economist statistics Liz McKeown said: "Recent trends in the jobs market are continuing, with earnings, in cash terms, growing more slowly than recently but, thanks to lower inflation, real-terms pay continues to increase.

"The number of job vacancies has also been falling for coming up to two years, though the total remains more than 100,000 above its pre-pandemic level.

"Over the last year, there was little change in the proportions of people who are employed, unemployed or neither working nor looking for work, though the overall number of people in work is still rising."