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The increase in UK salaries remained strong in three months until January, despite slow renting, according to official data that economists said it reinforces the issue of the Bank of England maintaining interest rates today.
The annual increase in average weekly profits, excluding rewards, held at 5.9 percent in three months by January, the Office of National Statistics said on Thursday. The figure was in line with the expectations of economists.
Including bonuses, increased salaries in the period slightly raised to 5.8 percent, from 6.1 percent to three months to December.
The divided tax -based figures showed that wage employment was flat, with a marginal increase of 9,000 employees between December and January, as companies worried about slow economic growth, threat of trade wars and immediate tax increases and minimum wages.
Employment increased by only 0.1 percent during the year by January. But the temporary figures for February showed some signs of confidence by turning back, with an increase of 21,000, or 0.1 percent per month. Initial rating for the last month has often been revised in the past.
The combination of increasing strong wages and slow employment is challenging for the BOE monetary policy committee, which is expected to maintain interest rates at 4.5 percent when it announced its decision later on Thursday.
“With the cooling of the labor market instead of collapsing and the increase in wages stuck in the 5.5-6.0 percent range, we suspect the Bank of England will lower interest rates by 4.50 percent today,” Ruth Gregory said in Economic Capital Consultancy. But she added: “All this leaves the bank in a complex position.”
After issuing employment data, the pound fell 0.3 percent to $ 1,296.
MPC is concerned that the job market may deteriorate further, but has also become more pessimistic about the extent to which the United Kingdom economy can grow without stocking pricing. Inflation stayed at 3 percent in January, and is set to climb higher in the middle of the year.
Andrew Bailey, Governor of Boe, said last month that there was a risk that tax increases presented in the budget could raise prices and hit jobs more than the Central Bank was expected.
However, payroll figures suggest that employment has kept better than it is suggested by business surveys, which had signaled sharp cuts in staff. The vacancies also remained sustainable at 816,000 in three months to February, similar to pre-landmark levels.
Thomas Pugh, an economist at the UK RSM audit firm, said that “while it would be an extension to say that the UK labor market was strong, it is not clearly collapsed”, adding that any further cuts would “depend, in part, slowly slowing salary”.
The main measure of unemployment from the Inel, which is less reliable due to problems with the labor force survey that supports it, also kept stable at 4.4 percent in three months by January.
Ines said that a 75 percent employment rate was increasing both in quarter and year, while economic inactivity was lower to 21.5 percent. However, these changes may reflect improvements in data accuracy, rather than the latest trends in hiring.
