Britain's unemployment increased and the net pay growth was the fastest in nearly a decade during the three months to September, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday. The UK unemployment rate rose slightly in the three months to September to 4.1 percent. In the past two months, the ILO jobless rate was steady at 4 percent, which was the lowest level since early 1975. Economists had forecast the rate to remain unchanged. The rate rose for the first time this year. Th number of unemployed rose by 21,000 persons from the previous period to 1.38 million.
Employment grew by 23,000 persons to 32.41 million. Average earnings including bonuses rose 3 percent year-on-year in September, in line with economists' expectations. In the three months to August, pay growth was 2.8 percent. Excluding bonuses, average earnings grew 3.2 percent year-on-year after a 3.1 percent increase in the three months to August. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged. The pace of growth was in earnings excluding bonuses was the fastest since the October to December period of 2008. "The rise in regular pay growth to a fresh post-crisis high and weak productivity growth suggests that we are right to think that rates will rise further than is priced into markets next year if a Brexit deal is agreed," Andrew Wishart at Capital Economics said. "Overall, with pay growth continuing to accelerate while productivity growth remains weak, the Bank of England will be keen to press ahead with rate hikes if a Brexit deal is agreed in order to keep on top of domestic inflationary pressures," the economist added.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.