UK Jobless Rate At 43-Year Low; Real Wages Increase
May 15 2018 - 4:10AM
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The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged at a 43-year low and
real wages increased amid falling unemployment in the first
quarter, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday.
The ILO jobless rate remained at 4.2 percent in the first
quarter, but down from 4.6 percent a year ago. This was the joint
lowest since 1975.
The number of unemployed decreased by 46,000 to 1.42 million in
the first quarter.
At the same time, the employment rate was 75.6 percent, the
highest since comparable records began in 1971.
In the first quarter, average earnings excluding bonuses
advanced 2.9 percent, the highest since 2015. In the same period,
inflation averaged 2.7 percent.
At the same time, earnings of employees including bonuses grew
2.6 percent from the last year.
March's labor market figures provide optimism that sustained
rises in real pay are in prospect and will place more pressure on
the Bank of England to hike interest rates soon, Ruth Gregory, an
economist at Capital Economics, said.
If the economy bounces back from the weather-related weakness in
the first quarter as expected, then an August interest rate hike
seems more likely than not, the economist noted.
Data showed that the claimant count rose slightly to 2.5 percent
in April from 2.4 percent in March. The number of people claiming
unemployment benefits increased by more than 31,000.
Flash productivity data from ONS showed that output per hour
decreased 0.5 percent in the first quarter, reversing a 0.7 percent
rise in the previous quarter. Output per worker also fell 0.5
percent.
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