LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) – British wage growth, excluding bonuses, slowed by slightly less than expected to 3.6% in annual terms in the three months to February, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.
Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected regular average weekly earnings growth of 3.5%, down from 3.8% in the previous month.
Until the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February, the Bank of England had been showing increasing concern about weaker hiring.
But new inflation pressures have emerged, caused by the jump in energy prices due to the war in the Middle East, and economists have pushed back their forecasts for when the BoE is likely resume cutting borrowing costs.
Officials at the central bank say the weak economic backdrop is likely to make it harder for workers to demand bigger pay increases in response to the expected rise in inflation.
(Reporting by Andy BruceEditing by William Schomberg)
Comments