Wage growth has slowed sharply in the Ƶ and there are further signs that the jobs market is cooling, according to official figures. Ƶ average regular earnings, excluding bonuses, increased by 6.6% in the three months to November, down from a revised 7.2% in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said.
It is the lowest rate since the three months to January last year. But pay lifted 1.4% after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account.
The number of job vacancies fell by 49,000 over the three months to December to 934,000, marking the 18th period in a row that openings have fallen and the longest run of falls ever recorded. The rate of Ƶ unemployment remained unchanged at 4.2% in the three months to November.
Liz McKeown, the ONS’s director of economic statistics, said: “The overall picture continues to be broadly stable, with the unemployment rate unchanged and the employment rate up slightly on the previous three months. Job vacancies fell again, with the retail area seeing the biggest fall. However, the overall number of vacancies still remains above its pre-pandemic level.
“November saw the lowest number of days lost to strikes for 18 months, driven by a big drop in the health sector. While annual pay growth remains high in cash terms, we continue to see signs that wage pressures might be easing overall.
“However, with inflation still falling more quickly, earnings continued to grow in real terms.”
