UK jobless rate steady at 4.4% as salary growth continues at 5.9%

The UK unemployment rate held steady in the three months to February, while pay growth remained robust, numbers on Tuesday showed.

The Office for National Statistics said the UK jobless rate was 4.4% in the three months to February 2025, unchanged from the previous three-month period.

The rate comes in line with the FXStreet-cited market consensus and above the 4.2% unemployment rate recorded a year earlier.

The employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was estimated at 75%, edging up from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the economic inactivity rate declined slkightly to 21%.

Vacancies fell by 26,000 on the quarter to 781,000 in the three months to March. This marked the 33rd consecutive quarterly decline and the first time vacancies dropped below pre-pandemic levels since March to May 2021.

The number of payrolled employees fell by 8,000 between January and February but rose by 35,000 year-on-year. However, a provisional estimate for March showed a sharp monthly drop of 78,000, bringing the total to 30.3 million.

Annual growth in regular pay, which excludes bonuses, was 5.9% in the three months to February, unchanged from the prior period. Total pay, including bonuses, grew 5.6%, slightly down from 5.8% in the previous quarter.

Adjusted for inflation using the consumer prices index, including owner occupiers’ housing costs, real regular pay rose 2.1%, and total pay rose 1.9%, compared to 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively.

The ONS also said 52,000 working days were lost to labour disputes in February, up from 50,000 in January.

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