Aug 16, 2022 03:51AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
Official data released on Tuesday showed more signs of a cooling in the British labour market as companies are more cautious about hiring and workers have suffered record falls in their basic salaries, adjusted for rising inflation.
The country's unemployment rate held at 3.8 percent, as economists polled by Reuters had expected, near the lowest level in half a century.
However, the number of employed people rose by 160,000 in the April-June period, much less than the Reuters poll expected, which pointed to an increase of 256,000.
The number of job vacancies fell for the first time since the mid-2020s, the Office for National Statistics said.
Wages, excluding bonuses, rose 4.7 percent, accelerating from their pace in the three months to May. But adjusted for inflation, they fell 4.1 percent, the biggest drop since records began in 2001.
The Bank of England is closely monitoring the labour market for signs of long-term inflationary pressures.
Earlier this month, it raised borrowing costs by the most since 1995 and said it was prepared to act decisively if pressures persisted.
Reuters reported that data due to be published on Wednesday is expected to show the UK consumer price index rose 9.8 percent in the 12 months to July, according to economists polled by Reuters, and the BoE expects it to reach 13.3 percent in October, the highest since 1980.
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