UK wage growth has slowed as unemployment remained unchanged in the three months to November.
Unemployment stayed the same at 4.2% while average regular earnings growth, excluding bonuses, eased back to 6.6%.
It marks a drop from the revised 7.2% in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said.
But pay lifted 1.4% after taking Consumer Prices Index inflation into account.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “With inflation falling, it’s heartening to see real wages growing for the fifth month in a row.
“This is on top of the record cut to national insurance worth nearly £1,000 in a typical household with two working people, putting more money in their pockets.”
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “The overall picture continues to be broadly stable, with the unemployment rate unchanged and the employment rate up slightly on the previous three months.
“Job vacancies fell again, with the retail area seeing the biggest fall. However, the overall number of vacancies still remains above its pre-pandemic level.
“November saw the lowest number of days lost to strikes for 18 months, driven by a big drop in the health sector.
“While annual pay growth remains high in cash terms, we continue to see signs that wage pressures might be easing overall. However, with inflation still falling more quickly, earnings continued to grow in real terms.”
This story is being updated
By Emma Soteriou
