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UK wage growth SOARS at fastest rate since financial crisis almost 10 YEARS ago


Average weekly earnings in Britain, excluding bonuses, shot up by 3.1 percent in the three months to August, the fastest rate since the financial crisis struck in 2009.

Though when adding inflation into the mix, pay rose by 0.7 percent over the period.

However, this was still the best levels seen since the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, unemployment fell by 47,000 to 1.36 million, giving a jobless rate of 4 percent.

There were 32.39 million people in a job in the three months to August, a fall of 5,000 on the previous quarter.

David Freeman, the ONS’s head of labour market, said: “People’s regular monthly wage packets grew at their strongest rate in almost a decade, but, allowing for inflation, the growth was much more subdued.

“The number of people in work remained at a near-record high, while the unemployment rate was at its lowest since the mid-1970s.

“However, there was a notable uptick in the number of people who were neither working nor looking for a job, particularly among students.”

The number of people classed as economically inactive increased by 103,000 to 8.7 million after a similar rise in last month’s figures.

The total included 52,000 students.

Minister of State for Employment Alok Sharma said: “I am particularly encouraged that wages continue to be on the up, outpacing inflation for the seventh month in a row and regular pay is up 3.1 percebt on the year.

“And with unemployment at its lowest since the 1970s, since 2010 there are more people with the security of a job, more people with a regular salary, and more people able to support their families – and that is thanks to action this Government has taken to build an economy that works for everyone.”



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