Financial News: UK Unemployment Rate Stable At 5.2%; Wage Growth

UK Unemployment Rate Stable At 5.2%; Wage Growth Eases

03/19/2026 - 04:03:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged and wage growth eased in the three months to January, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday.

The jobless rate held steady at 5.2 percent in the November to January period. The rate remained slightly below forecast of 5.3 percent.

Average earnings, excluding bonus gained 3.8 percent year-on-year, slower than the 4.2 percent rise in the prior quarter. Earnings were expected to climb 4.0 percent.

Including bonus, average earnings increased 3.9 percent from the prior year, in line with forecast.

Job vacancies decreased 6,000 to 721,000 compared to the previous three months ending November.

There was an estimated 31,000 working days lost because of labour disputes in January.

Data came ahead of the Bank of England's monetary policy decision due later today. The bank is widely expected to hold its key interest rate at 3.75 percent.

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