Pay growth jumps for first time in over a year as vacancies fall

Pay growth has picked up for the first time in more than a year, according to the latest official figures.

Regular pay, which excludes bonuses, grew at an annual pace of 5.2% between August and October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The number of job vacancies in the UK fell again, but still remains above pre-pandemic levels.

Pay is continuing to increase faster than the price of goods, with the ONS saying earnings outstripped inflation by 3%.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3%, although there are questions over the reliability of the jobs figures from the ONS due to issues with how it gathers the data.

“After slowing steadily for over a year, growth in pay excluding bonuses increased slightly in the latest period driven by stronger growth in private sector pay,” said Liz McKeown, director of statistics at the ONS.

There are signs that the jobs market is continuing to weaken, with the number of job vacancies falling by 31,000 to 818,000 in the September-to-November period.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Today’s figures are a stark reminder of the work that needs to be done.

“To get Britain growing again, we need to get Britain working again – so people have good jobs which pay decent wages and offer the chance to progress.”