UK Labour Market Weakness Ahead of BoE Rate Decision
Britain's labour market remains weak, according to official data released today. The Office for National Statistics said job vacancies fell to 702,000 in the three months to August from 706,000 in July. This marks a four-year low, with the last time job openings were this low being in the three months to April 2021.
Average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, grew by 3.5% in the three months to July compared to the same period in 2025. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.9% in the three months to July.
The Bank of England is trying to gauge whether higher energy prices caused by the Iran war will interrupt a gradual cooling of wage growth and underlying inflation pressure in Britain. Investors are pricing a roughly one-in-three chance of a quarter-point interest rate hike by the Bank of England on Thursday.