UK pay growth slows as jobs market stalls

Wage growth has slowed and the UK jobs market is showing signs of stalling, according to latest official figures.

Pay growth, excluding bonuses, eased to 7.3% in the three months to October while the number of vacancies dropped.

But while earnings are not rising as quickly as before, they are still outpacing inflation - which measures the rate at which prices are growing.

This suggests that the Bank of England is less likely to cut interest rates anytime soon.

The Bank will announce its next interest rate decision on Thursday.

The number of UK job vacancies fell again, this time by 45,000 between September and November.

"This is now the longest period of decline on record, longer than in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 downturn," said Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics, which published the figures.

It is the 17th month in a row that the number has fallen.

However, overall vacancies totalled 949,000, which Mr Morgan said "remains well above pre-pandemic levels".