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The UK unemployment rate rose to 5.1 per cent and wage growth slowed in the three months to October as employers held off hiring ahead of the Budget.
Tuesday’s unemployment figure from the Office for National Statistics was up from 5 per cent in the three months to September and in line with analysts’ expectations
Separate figures from tax records showed that payroll employment fell by 149,000 or 0.5 per cent in the year to October, the ONS said. Provisional figures pointed to a further fall of 38,000 or 0.1 per cent between October and November, although these are likely to be revised.
Annual growth in average private sector weekly earnings slowed to 3.9 per cent in the three months to October, down from 4.2 per cent the previous month.
The figures will reinforce expectations that the Bank of England is set to cut interest rates by another quarter of a point to 3.75 per cent this week, as policymakers become more convinced that weak economic growth is bearing down on inflation.
This is a developing story