British average earnings in the three months to December rose less than expected while the number of people claiming jobless benefits fell for the 16th straight month in January, official data showed today.
The Office for National Statistics said earnings increased 3.8 per cent in the period, easing from 4.0 percent in the three months to November and below market forecasts for a reading of 3.9 per cent.
The claimant count fell 10,800 last month, more than twice the amount expected by analysts, taking the run of consecutive falls to its longest since the period from June 2003 to January 2005.
The internationally-recognised ILO measure of unemployment also fell, by 61,000 in the three months to December - the biggest fall since the three months to January 2003 when it fell by 67,000.
That took the rate of unemployment down to 5.2 per cent, the lowest since the three months to January 2006 when it was 5.1 per cent.
The figures are likely to provide some relief to Bank of England policymakers worried about record inflation expectations feeding into wage settlements.