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British jobless hits 42-year low but wage growth lags behind inflation

Xinhua, May 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

British unemployment rate has fallen to 4.6 percent in three months to March, hitting the lowest since 1975, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released Wednesday.

A year earlier the figure was 5.1 percent.

The number of jobless people, who are not in work but seeking and available to work, fell by 53,000 to 1.54 million in the first quarter this year.

Meanwhile, the employment rate, the proportion of 16 to 64 year olds in work, was 74.8 percent, the highest since comparable records began in 1971.

However, despite the sustained fall in unemployment and rise in employment, wage growth has slowed down further, even lagging behind inflation for the first time since mid-2014.

According to ONS, average weekly earnings excluding bonuses increased by 2.1 percent in the three months to March, while inflation rose by 2.3 percent in the year to March 2017.

The Bank of England (BoE) has warned of a consumer spending squeeze this year as inflation rises and real wages fall in its latest Inflation Report.

This year will be "a more challenging time for British households" and "wages won't keep up with prices," BoE governor Mark Carney said. Endit