Wage growth is slowing down, official data show, in an encouraging sign for the Bank of England as it seeks to cut interest rates.

Annual growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose by 6.1pc in the three months to January, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The figure was behind December’s pace of 6.2pc and below analyst predictions that the rate of wage growth would remain unchanged.

Policymakers at the Bank of England have said they want to see signs that wage growth is easing before they will feel comfortable that cutting interest rates will not trigger an uptick in inflation.

In a further boost to hopes for interest rate cuts, the rate of UK unemployment rose to 3.9pc in the three months to January from 3.8pc in the previous three months, signalling that the economy is slowing.

It came as economic inactivity fell slightly to 21.8pc of the workforce as the number of people out of work owing to long-term sickness fell slightly.

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