LONDON (Reuters) – British workers’ wage growth slowed in the three months to the end of May but remained at levels typically too high for the Bank of England to keep inflation at its 2 percent target.
Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses – a key gauge of inflationary pressures for the Bank of England as it considers whether to cut interest rates next month – rose by 5.7% in the three months to the end of May compared with a year earlier, official data showed.
Total profits also grew by 5.7% during the period.
Both readings were in line with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
In the three months through April, average wages rose 6.0% year-on-year and total earnings rose 5.9%.
The Bank of England is due to make its next interest rate announcement in two weeks, and after stronger-than-expected inflation data on Wednesday, investors are pricing in a one-in-three chance of a rate cut for the first time since 2020 on August 1.
The National Bureau of Statistics also said on Thursday it had postponed the switch to a new version of its labour force survey, which had been scheduled for September.
