Annual wage growth in the U.K. grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade, beating market expectations, while the unemployment rate ticked down, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Average weekly earnings including bonuses in the three months to end July rose by 4% from a year earlier, the fastest pace since mid-2008, compared with 3.7% in the three months through June. The consensus estimate of economists polled by Econoday was for the growth rate to remain unchanged at 3.7%.
Wage growth excluding bonuses decelerated to 3.8% from 3.9%.
The unemployment rate came in at 3.8%, lower than the Econoday consensus estimate for the period and the reading for the previous rolling three-month period, both at 3.9%. The employment rate was unchanged at 76.1%, a record.
On an annual basis, employment grew by 369,000 in the three months to July to reach 32.78 million, driven by a 284,000 increase in employed women to 15.52 million.
The economic inactivity rate in the U.K. was estimated at 20.8%, down from 21.2% a year earlier.
