Financial News: UK Jobless Rate Steady At 5.1%; Wage Growth

UK Jobless Rate Steady At 5.1%; Wage Growth Slows

01/20/2026 - 03:31:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - The UK unemployment rate remained stable and wage growth eased in the three months to November, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.

The jobless rate was estimated at 5.1 percent, unchanged from the three months to October and also matched expectations.

Average earnings excluding bonuses posted an annual growth of 4.5 percent, which matched economists' forecast but slower than the 4.6 percent rise in the preceding period.

Including bonuses, earnings grew 4.7 percent from the last year compared to the expected 4.6 percent gain.

Wage growth in the private sector eased to the lowest in five years, while pay growth in the public sector remained high. Public sector pay growth was 7.9 percent, while private sector pay increase was 3.6 percent.

In December, pay-rolled employees decreased 43,000 from the previous month to 30.2 million.

During October to December, vacancies showed an increase of 10,000 to 734,000 compared with July to September period.

Further, the number of working days lost due to labor disputes reached 155,000 in November, the highest since January 2024.

British Chambers of Commerce Head of People and Work Policy Patrick Milnes said today's data indicate that businesses are still not feeling confident about taking on more staff or expanding their operations.

The jobless rate unchanged at 5.1 percent and the number of pay-rolled employees continued to fall suggest that the labor market is still loosening, Milnes noted.

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