UK wage growth eases at 7.8% as job vacancies fall

Signs of labour market cooling

The UK is showing signs of cooling after wage inflation data continued to ease in the three months to August while job vacancies fell, according to figures by the Office for National Statistics.

Annual growth in average total pay, excluding bonuses, stood at 7.8% for the three months to August, in line with market consensus. The figure for the previous three-month period was revised upwards to 7.9% from 7.8%.  Including bonuses, the annual growth in employees' average total pay was 8.1% in June to August 2023, falling short of market estimates of 8.3%. In the three months prior to July, it was 8.5%. In real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and including housing costs, total pay rose year-on-year between June and August by 1.3%. Weekly pay ro...