20th Oct 2026 07:15
(Alliance News) - The UK unemployment rate surprisingly declined in the three months to August, data on Tuesday showed.
The Office for National Statistics said the jobless rate fell to 4.7% in the three month period to August from 4.9% in the three month stretch to July. It had been expected to remain at 4.9%, according to market consensus cited by FXStreet.
According to the ONS, payrolled employees in the UK fell by 111,000 on-year in August but edged up by 1,000 on-month.
An early estimate for September showed payrolled employees were down by 66,000 annually, but up 13,000 on-month.
Over the three-month period, average total earnings growth was 3.7%, cooling from 3.9% in the three months to July, and below the consensus cited by FXStreet of 3.8%.
Excluding bonuses, earnings growth picked up to 3.7% in the three months to August from 3.6% in the period to July. Consensus had this wage inflation measure staying at 3.6%, according to FXStreet.
Looking at the private sector alone, a figure closely tracked by the Bank of England, total pay growth was 3.1% in the three-month period, easing from 3.3%. When stripping out bonuses, however, it accelerated to 3.0% from 2.9%.
On Wednesday, there is a consumer price index report published at 0700 BST. According to consensus cited by FXStreet, the pace of consumer price inflation is expected to have quickened to 3.4% in September from 3.1% in August.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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