'Pay continues to be outstripped by rising prices', says ONS chief
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said:
The last quarter of 2022 saw fewer people remaining outside the labour market altogether, with some moving straight back into a job and others starting to seek work again.
This meant that although employment rose again, unemployment edged up also.
Although there is still a large gap between earnings growth in the public and private sectors, this narrowed slightly in the latest period.
Overall pay, though, continues to be outstripped by rising prices.
Though still at historically very high levels, job vacancies have dropped again, with a particularly sharp fall from the smallest employers.
The number of working days lost to strikes rose again sharply in December.
Transport and communications remained the most heavily affected area, but this month there was also a large contribution from the health sector.
Part-time workers behind slight rise in employment
The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.6pc, 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous three-month period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.
The increase in employment over the latest three-month period was driven by part-time workers, it said.
The rate of UK unemployment was 3.7pc in the three months to December, unchanged from the previous three months.
Good morning
Average wages grew at the fastest rate ever seen outside the pandemic.
However, surging inflation meant real income has still suffered one of the largest squeezes on record amid the cost of living crisis.
Growth in regular average total pay excluding bonuses rose 6.7pc in the final three months of last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Average pay in the private sector rose by 7.3pc during the period, which is also the largest ever seen outside the pandemic.
However in real terms, growth in total and regular pay fell over the course of the year by 3.1pc including bonuses and 2.5pc for regular pay excluding bonuses.
It is among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001.
The figures come as inflation runs at 10.5pc and may force the Bank of England to continue its programme of interest rate rises to stop higher costs becoming embedded as wages strive to keep pace with rising prices.
5 things to start your day
1) Hydrogen to be pumped into main gas pipeline by 2025 | Fuel to be carried across country on 4,700-mile network as part of race to go green
2) ‘Cable cowboy’ snaps up stake in beleaguered Vodafone | ‘Opportunistic’ investment comes after company’s share price dropped to multi-year lows
3) Amazon workers to stage week-long strike over pay | More than 350 staff to walk out in longest strike by retail giant's UK workforce
4) Toyota to build flagship electric Lexus as it backs away from hydrogen dream | Carmaker says ‘timing is right’ for push into battery-powered cars
5) Founder of AI firm stole tech secrets and offered them to China, lawsuit claims | Zia Chishti alleged to have taken source code when he left company in 2021
What happened overnight
Tokyo shares ended higher following Wall Street gains, despite a lacklustre Japanese GDP report and a wait-and-see mood ahead of US consumer price data.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.7pc to end at 27,602.77, while the broader Topix index rose 0.8pc to 1,993.09.
Other Asian shares also edged higher, tracking the rebound on Wall Street ahead of a key US inflation report, while the yen recouped losses against a sluggish dollar as Japan nominated a new central bank governor in a closely watched decision.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rebounded 0.3pc.
Chinese shares wobbled, with the blue chips losing 0.4pc and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index easing 0.2pc.
Wall Street's equity indexes closed higher ahead of today's US consumer price index (CPI) report - key inflation data which will show whether price increases have slowed following the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.1pc at 34,245.93. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.1 pc to 4,137.29, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5pc to 11,891.79.
However, yields on the 10-year US Treasury bond dipped amid investor optimism that the CPI release will indicate cooling inflation, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue interest hikes for much longer.
The FTSE 100 closed at a new high of 7,947.60, breaking the record for the third time this month. The pound rose to $1.21, compared with £1.20 at the previous close.