UK unemployment rate ticks up, wage growth slows

(Sharecast News) - UK unemployment ticked higher in the three months to September, while wage growth slowed, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3% from 4% in the previous quarter, versus expectations for a 4.1% increase.

The data showed that pay excluding bonuses rose 4.8% on the same period a year earlier, which was the lowest since June 2022.

Including bonuses, pay growth rose to 4.3% from 3.8% but the ONS said this was affected by the civil service one-off payments made in July and August 2023.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "Growth in pay excluding bonuses eased again this month to its lowest rate in over two years. Pay growth including bonuses increased, but for recent periods these figures have been affected by last year's one-off payments made to public sector workers.

"Job vacancies have fallen again, as they have been doing for more than two years now. However, the total still remains a little above where it was before the pandemic."