Labour Market Proves Stronger Than Expected Into The Budget - NIESR

This content is restricted to corporate members, NiGEM subscribers and NIESR partners. “Today's positive labour market figures slightly surprised, with unemployment falling to 4.7 per cent, while regular pay growth remained modest at 3.7 per cent. Beneath the surface, however, the sectors continue to diverge, with public-sector regular pay rising by 6.3 per cent as recent awards feed through, compared with just 3.0 per cent in the private sector. With teachers’ and civil service settlements still to feed into the data, public pay is likely to stay elevated into the new year, adding to the Chancellor’s spending pressures ahead of next week’s Budget.