UK Job Vacancies Hit Four-Year Low as Pay Growth Holds Steady Ahead of BoE Call
UK vacancies fell to a four-year low of 702,000 and pay growth held at 3.5%, official data showed ahead of the Bank of England's rate announcement.
Britain's labour market remained subdued, with job vacancies dropping to their lowest level in four years and wage growth holding steady, official figures released on Tuesday showed. The data landed just days before the Bank of England's latest interest rate announcement.
Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses rose 3.5% in the three months to July compared with the same period a year earlier, matching the expectations of economists polled ahead of the release.
Job vacancies for the three months to August slipped to 702,000 from 706,000 in the three months to July. That marked the weakest reading since the three months to April 2021. Small businesses pointed to the high cost of employment as a factor behind the decline.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9% in the three months to July.
Policymakers are assessing whether elevated energy prices linked to the Iran war could disrupt a gradual easing of wage growth and underlying inflation pressures in Britain.
Investors on Monday assigned roughly a one-in-three probability to a quarter-point rate increase by the Bank of England on Thursday. A hike at the following Monetary Policy Committee meeting in November was viewed as nearly certain, with another expected in December.