UK regular pay growth slows for first time since January
job vacancies also declined, official figures showed on Tuesday, in a sign that the labour market is losing momentum.
British average earnings, excluding bonuses, were 7.8% higher than a year earlier during the three months to August, down from an upwardly revised 7.9% in the three months to July, the first such fall since January.
Average earnings are being monitored by the Bank of England as it considers whether to resume raising interest rates to counter the risks from still-high inflation.
The latest reading from Britain's Office for National Statistics was in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters, but sterling fell slightly against the U.S. dollar after the data.
«While wage growth is still much too strong for the Bank of England's liking, there's nothing in the latest data that's likely to push the committee into a rate hike at the November meeting,» ING economist James Smith said.
Private-sector regular pay — the component looked at most closely by the BoE — saw annual growth slow to 8.0% in the three months to August, from 8.1%.
Annual growth in total pay — a more volatile measure which includes one-off bonuses — slowed more than expected to 8.1% in the quarter through August, from an unrevised 8.5% in the May to July period.
However, with consumer price inflation of 6.7% in August, the real-terms increase in pay was far smaller.
Regular pay, adjusted for CPI inflation, grew by an annual 0.7% in the three months to August.
