Annual British pay growth unexpectedly eased in the three months to March while the claimant count measure of unemployment rose for a third straight month in April, official figures showed today.
The data suggest that while Britain's labour market is not deteriorating significantly, inflation pressures stemming from wages remain dormant, supporting the view that the Bank of England will leave interest rates at 4.75 per cent for months.
The Office for National Statistics said annual average earnings rose 4.6 per cent in the three months to March compared with 4.7 per cent in the three months to February, less than the 4.8 per cent economists had expected.
Excluding bonuses, annual pay growth slipped to 4.1 per cent in the three months to March from 4.3 per cent, its weakest in a year.
That was owing mainly to fewer highly paid staff in the National Health Service and less overtime worked in manufacturing, the ONS said.
Separately, the ONS said the claimant count measure of unemployment rose 8,100 in April after an upwardly-revised rise of 13,600 in March, and nearly double the 4,500 rise economists had expected.
That marked the third straight monthly rise in the claimant count, the first time that has happened since January-March 2003 in the run-up to the Iraq war.