UK wage growth ticks up but payrolls plunge
British pay growth in the private sector picked up in the three months to November but a plunge in payrolls added to signs of a softer labour market, according to data released this week that offered mixed signals for Bank of England interest rate-setters.
Private-sector average weekly earnings growth excluding bonuses – a measure watched closely by the BoE as a gauge of domestic inflation pressure – rose to 6.0 per cent in the three months to November from 5.5 per cent in the three months to October.
In November, the central bank forecast this measure will show annual growth of 5.1 per cent for the fourth quarter as a whole.
The jobless rate rose slightly to 4.4 per cent in the three months to November, its highest since the three months to May, as expected in a Reuters poll of economists.
Pay growth for the whole economy, excluding bonuses, was 5.6 per cent higher in the three months to the end of November than a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics. A Reuters poll had pointed to regular wage growth of 5.5 per cent.
Data from the tax office showed the number of employees numbers dropped by 47,000 in December, the biggest drop since November 2020 and following a 32,000 drop a month earlier.