UK unemployment rate ticks higher in August

(Sharecast News) - UK unemployment ticked higher in August, official statistics showed on Tuesday, by slightly more than expected, while private sector wage growth softened. According to the Office for National Statistics, the unemployment rate was 4.8% in June to August. That was up on both July's rate of 4.7%, and ahead of consensus, also for 4.7%.

In the three months to September, vacancies fell by 9,000 - or 1.3% - to 717,000.

Average employee earnings (excluding bonuses), meanwhile, rose by 4.7%, down on growth of 4.8% a month previously.

Including bonuses, wages rose by 5%, up from July's 4.8% increase.

Wage growth across the private sector slowed to its lowest rate in nearly four years, at 4.4%, the ONS noted.

In contrast, in the public sector wages jumped 6.0%, after some pay rises were awarded earlier than they were last year.

Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "After a long period of weak hiring activity, there are signs that the falls we have seen in both payroll numbers and vacancies are now levelling off.

"We see different patterns across the age ranges, with record numbers of over 65s in work, while the increase in unemployment was driven mostly by younger people."