- Wage growth (excluding bonuses) at 6.6% over the three months to November, down from 7.2% in the previous three months
- Adjusted for inflation this meant a real terms wage increase of 1.4%
- Unemployment held at 4.2% but vacancy numbers fell for the 18th consecutive month
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, comments on the latest UK jobs figures:
“The health of the UK labour force is being watched closely to assess how significantly the brutal rate and price hikes that were the hallmark of last year have weakened the economy.
“Vacancy numbers are slowly being whittled away, in fact what we’ve seen over the last 18 months is the longest run of declines ever recorded.
“Recruitment companies have already sounded the alarm. They’ve seen hiring intentions fall back as companies play a game of wait and see and employees lose their nerve to make a move away from the stability they are currently enjoying.
“Chasing higher and higher pay packets just isn’t feasible when businesses are struggling to deal with the hand that’s already been dealt and with workers finally feeling the benefit of those pay increases thanks to falling inflation, other factors are likely to play a more important part in job decisions.
“That cooling in wage growth will be welcomed by policy makers at the Bank of England who are coming under increasing pressure to loosen the grip on interest rates.
“But wage growth is still historically high, and unemployment has held steady in spite of the economic burdens that have been heaped on UK plc.
“The big number is the inflation number, which we won’t get until tomorrow, but even if that comes in as expected no one really thinks rate cuts will come until late spring to allow time for the impact of shipping disruption to be weighed up and to help counter any potential reinflation if energy prices surge.”
