UK wage growth comes in higher than expected

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UK wage growth was higher than expected in the three months to February, despite a weaker jobs market in which unemployment edged up, vacancies fell and more people chose not to work or look for work.

The Office for National Statistics said average earnings, including bonuses, were 5.6 per cent higher over the period than a year earlier, the same annual growth rate as in the three months to January. Analysts had expected annual growth to slow to 5.5 per cent.

Excluding bonuses, annual earnings growth edged down from 6.1 per cent to 6 per cent, remaining stronger than the pace of 5.8 per cent analysts had expected.

The figures suggest it could still take time before Bank of England rate-setters are confident that inflationary pressures in the economy have eased enough to start cutting interest rates from their current 16 year high of 5.25 per cent. 

This is a developing story