UK jobless rate in surprise fall to 4.7% in three months to August

The UK unemployment rate surprisingly declined in the three months to August, data on Tuesday showed.

The Office for National Statistics said the jobless rate fell to 4.7% in the three month period to August from 4.9% in the three month stretch to July. It had been expected to remain at 4.9%, according to market consensus cited by FXStreet.

According to the ONS, payrolled employees in the UK fell by 111,000 on-year in August but edged up by 1,000 on-month.

An early estimate for September showed payrolled employees were down by 66,000 annually, but up 13,000 on-month.

Over the three-month period, average total earnings growth was 3.7%, cooling from 3.9% in the three months to July, and below the consensus cited by FXStreet of 3.8%.

Excluding bonuses, earnings growth picked up to 3.7% in the three months to August from 3.6% in the period to July. Consensus had this wage inflation measure staying at 3.6%, according to FXStreet.

Looking at the private sector alone, a figure closely tracked by the Bank of England, total pay growth was 3.1% in the three-month period, easing from 3.3%. When stripping out bonuses, however, it accelerated to 3.0% from 2.9%.

On Wednesday, there is a consumer price index report published at 0700 BST. According to consensus cited by FXStreet, the pace of consumer price inflation is expected to have quickened to 3.4% in September from 3.1% in August.

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