UK wage growth remains strong amid high inflation; unemployment unexpectedly increases

LONDON (AP) — Wages in the U.K. are still rising at record highs, official figures showed Tuesday, as inflation remains stubbornly high.

The Office for National Statistics said that wages, excluding bonus payments, rose by 7.3% in the three months to May, unchanged over the previous three-month period and matching the highest rate since records began in 2001.

The agency’s director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said that due to high inflation “the real value of weekly earnings are still falling, although now at its slowest rate since the end of 2021.”

Though inflation has fallen from its peak of over 10% at the end of last year, it remains elevated at 8.7%. The failure of inflation to fall as anticipated has stoked concerns that the Bank of England will continue to raise interest rates in the coming months rather than take a pause. The central bank lifted its main interest rate to a 15-year high of 5% last month, which has led to a sharp increase in mortgage rates.

Elsewhere, the statistics agency found that the unemployment rate in the U.K. rose to 4%. Economists had anticipated an unchanged reading of 3.8%.

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