UK employment hits record high but wage growth falls back

Alice Rigby
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The UK employment rate in the three months to January hit a record high of 73.3%, according to latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of working-age members of the populace in work reached 30.94m, the highest rate the ONS has recorded since it started measuring employment in 1971. The figure will be a boost for the chancellor ahead of the final Budget of this parliament, but less positive news came in the form a slight decline in wage growth. Regular wages rose 1.6% and wages including bonuses rose by 1.8% year-on-year, outstripping the inflation rate for a second quarter running. But the headline figure was less than the 1.8% forecast by economists, and also down from 1.7% recorded in December. The...

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