Britain’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since the mid-1970s as a pre-Brexit hiring surge continued, but workers’ pay rose a bit less quickly in the first three months of 2019, official data showed this morning.
The unemployment rate stood at 3.8%, its lowest since early 1975 and down slightly from a previous reading of 3.9%, the Office for National Statistics said this morning.
Employment grew by 99,000, below the median forecast of 135,000 in a poll of economists.
In the January-March period, total earnings, including bonuses, rose by an annual 3.2%, slowing from 3.5% in the three months to February and weaker than a forecast of 3.4% in the poll.
The BoE this month said it expected wage growth of 3% at the end of this year.
The British currency is at a two-day low, also being dragged lower by the broader environment, with trade tensions between the United States and China hurting stocks earlier this week.