- The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 2.9% y/y compared to 2.8% y/y expected.
- The UK wages including bonuses rose by 2.6% y/y compared to 2.4% y/y expected.
- The UK unemployment rate steadied at a four-decade low of 4.0% in July.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses beat expectations, arriving at 2.9% 3m y/y versus 2.7% last and 2.8% expected while the gauge including bonuses ticked higher to 2.6% 3m y/y versus 2.4% previous and 2.4% expected.
The Kingdom’s official jobless rate steadied at 4.0% in July, while the claimant count change showed a smaller-than-expected increase.
The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 8.7k in August, against expectations of a 10.0k increase and +10.2k (revised from +6.2k) seen previously. The claimant count rate rose to 2.6%.
“Latest estimates show that average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain in real terms (that is, adjusted for price inflation) increased by 0.5% excluding bonuses, and by 0.2% including bonuses, compared with a year earlier,” the ONS said in the report.