By Joshua Kirby
Unemployment stayed steady in the U.K. in the three months to November but growth in average pay continued to slow, adding to signs that inflation will continue to ease in the new year.
The rate of joblessness stayed at 4.2%, unchanged from the previous three-month period, according to figures set out Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics, in line with the rate expected by economists, according to a poll by The Wall Street Journal. But average pay growth, excluding bonuses, experienced a sharp deceleration, rising 6.6% compared with a revised 7.2% figure for the three months to October, marking a slowdown unmatched since the pandemic era, the ONS said. It was also a slightly sharper slowdown than was expected by economists.
Falling wage growth will bolster the Bank of England’s confidence that consumer price inflation won’t spike again this year, having now fallen closer to the bank’s target level. Economists expect the central bank to begin loosening its fiscal policy via interest-rate cuts at some point later this year, barring an unexpected surge in inflation.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby
