UK wages rose by 3.4% in December, meets expectations

• The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 3.4% y/y compared to 3.4% y/y expected.
• The UK wages including bonuses rose by 3.4% y/y compared to 3.5% y/y expected.
• The UK unemployment rate steadied at a four-decade low of 4.0% in December.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses met expectations, arriving at 3.4% 3m y/y versus 3.3% last and 3.4% expected while the gauge including bonuses came in at 3.4% 3m y/y versus 3.4% previous and 3.5% expected.

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

The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 14.2k in January, against expectations of a 12.3k increase and +20.8k seen previously. The claimant count rate remained unchanged at to 2.8%.