UK unemployment fell to 4.7% against a 4.9% forecast, but vacancies dropped below 700,000 for the first time since 2021 and private-sector pay growth slowed to 3.0%. September inflation data lands a day later, with a Bank of England hike priced.
London’s 6.6% jobless rate remains the highest of any UK nation or region even as the national rate slipped to 4.7%, according to One Chart UK’s reading of today’s ONS Labour Force Survey. Source
Unemployment came in at 4.7% for June to August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market release, against a 4.9% consensus. Employment rose 102,000 on the quarter to 34.577 million, five times the 20,000 forecast, and the employment rate climbed to 75.3%. Taken on its own, that is a hawkish print. It lands one day before September CPI and 16 days before a Bank of England decision where swaps price roughly a 90% chance of a hike to 4.00%.
