UK pay growth rose in December and unemployment remained unchanged despite warnings from business that Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget would lead to job losses.
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, said: “Since July wages have continued to grow at pace, putting vital money back in people’s pockets as we work to make work pay and improve living standards for all.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show annual growth in total average weekly earnings rose by 6% in the three months to December, up from 5.6% in November and above a 5.9% forecast made by City economists.
Liz McKeown, an ONS director of economic statistics, said: “Growth in pay, excluding bonuses, rose for a third consecutive time, with increases seen in both the private and public sector.
The figures come as business leaders issued a warning that Reeves’s planned £25bn increase in employers’ national insurance contributions and 6.7% rise in the minimum wage from April could force them to cut jobs.
