Total pay growth, including bonuses, was unchanged at 2.5 percent, as expected. “With the employment rate returning to a joint-record high and the number of vacancies setting a new record, demand for workers clearly remained strong,” ONS statistician David Freeman said. “Nevertheless inflation remains higher than pay growth and so the real value of earnings continues to decline.”Consumer price inflation for November hit it highest in almost six years at 3.1 percent. The data also showed the unemployment rate held at its four-decade low of 4.3 percent, as expected in the Reuters poll. The ONS said this measure was potentially misleading as it had been affected by changes in benefit eligibility.

Source: Egypt Independent January 24, 2018 09:33 UTC