UK: average earnings growth accelerated sharply from March to May

According to the report from Office for National Statistics, from March to May the UK employment rate was estimated at 76.0%, higher than a year earlier (75.6%); on the quarter, the rate was 0.1 percentage points lower, the first quarterly decrease since June to August 2018.

The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 3.8%; it has not been lower since October to December 1974. For March to May 2019, an estimated 1.29 million people were unemployed, 116,000 fewer than a year earlier and 820,000 fewer than five years earlier. Looking in more detail at this fall of 820,000 unemployed people over the last five years:

• people unemployed for up to six months fell by 246,000 to 766,000

• people out of work for between 6 and 12 months fell by 160,000 to 187,000

• the largest fall was for people unemployed for over one year (down 414,000 to 340,000)

Estimated annual growth in average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain increased from 3.2% to 3.4% for total pay (including bonuses) and from 3.4% to 3.6% for regular pay (excluding bonuses).

In real terms (after adjusting for inflation), total pay is estimated to have increased by 1.4% compared with a year earlier, and regular pay is estimated to have increased by 1.7%.