UK wages ease slightly in June, jobless rate drop to 4%

• The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 2.7% y/y compared to 2.7% y/y expected.
• The UK wages including bonuses rose by 2.4% y/y compared to 2.5% y/y expected.
• The UK unemployment rate dropped to a new four-decade low of 4.0% in June.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses matched expectations, arriving at 2.7% 3m y/y versus 2.8% (revised higher from 2.7%) last while the gauge including bonuses ticked lower to 2.4% 3m y/y versus 2.5% previous and 2.5% expected.

The Kingdom’s official jobless rate dropped to 4.0% in June, while the claimant count change showed a bigger-than-expected increase.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 6.2k in July, against expectations of a 3.8k increase and +9.0k (revised from +7.8k) seen previously. The claimant count rate steadied at 2.5%.