Good morning: Headline unemployment slipped to 4.7 per cent in the three months to the end of April, a fraction lower than the 4.8 per cent recorded last month, according to the Office for National Statistics. But a sharp rise in average weekly pay, which excluding bonuses rose by a larger-than expected 5.6 per cent year-on-year in the three months from February to April 2021, is likely to dominate the headlines – despite the ONS insisting that it was the result of a fall in the number and proportion of lower-paid jobs. SponsoredSam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics, said: “The seemingly very strong headline wage growth is partly the result of some statistical factors, and the underlying picture suggests more modest pay rises.”

Source: The Times June 15, 2021 07:52 UTC