“Overall, while today’s release provided some tentative signs that the labour market is turning, the Bank of England will want to see concrete signs of easing wage growth,” Ashley Webb, an economist with consultancy Capital Economics, said.Webb said the BoE would probably to raise rates by another half percentage point in December before taking them to a peak of 5.0% although Thursday's budget statement could reduce the urgency for further rate hikes if it slows the economy sharply.
Wages are rising by far less than inflation which is expected to have hit 10.7% in data due on Wednesday, hitting the spending power of British households. The ONS said both its measures for wages, adjusted for the consumer price index, were down by almost 4%. The share of people classed as inactive - neither in work nor looking for it - fell to 21.6% from 21.7% in the three months to August.