Britain's jobless rate surged to its highest level for nearly four years and pay growth for UK workers eased by more than expected as employers faced surging staff costs, official figures revealed today.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average regular earnings, excluding bonuses, increased 5.2 per cent in the three months to April, down from 5.5 per cent in the previous three months and the lowest since the third quarter of last year.
While this is still outstripping inflation, up by 2.1 per cent with Consumer Prices Index inflation taken into account, it was lower than predicted, with most experts pencilling in a fall to 5.3 per cent.
The rate of unemployment also jumped to 4.6 per cent in the three months to April, up from 4.5 per cent in the three months to March and the highest level since the three months to July 2021.
The figures also showed vacancies tumbled by 63,000 to 736,000 in the three months to May, while payroll data revealed the biggest drop for five years last month, down 109,000 to 30.2million.
