UK wage growth firm in Nov, jobless down again

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – British average earnings growth held firm in the three months to November, while the number of people claiming jobless benefit fell in December for a 15th consecutive month, official data showed on Wednesday.

The figures suggest the labour market remained tight at the end of last year. However, employment tends to be one of the last indicators to react to a slowing economy and most analysts expect unemployment to pick up later this year.

The figures did little to dissuade investors from expecting the Bank of England to cut interest rates to 5.25 percent at its next policy meeting in February, and financial markets showed little reaction.

“Unemployment continues its slow, steady decline but given that measures of joblessness tend to be a lagging indicator of the economy it doesn’t tell us very much where growth is going,” said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.

The Office for National Statistics said average earnings growth including bonuses held at 4.0 percent in the three months to November against expectations for a modest easing to 3.9 percent. Excluding bonuses, it held steady at 3.6 percent, as expected.

Policymakers are likely to be more concerned about the New Year pay round, so wage figures for the January to March period are likely to be more important.

The number of people claiming jobless benefit fell 6,400 in December, the 15th consecutive monthly fall — the longest run of declines since June 2003-January 2005.

The number of people in employment rose 175,000 in the three months to November, the biggest jump in nearly 11 years.

The internationally-comparable ILO jobless rate held steady at 5.3 percent as expected. The claimant count rate also held steady at 2.5 percent, matching its lowest level since April 1975.

(editing by David Stamp)