UK wage growth stalls despite record employment

Wage growth has slowed in the UK to put a squeeze on living standards despite the unemployment rate falling to its lowest level for more than 40 years. The fall in pay growth to 3.3% on the year in the three months to March, from 3.5% in the three months to February, also came as the buoyant labour market recorded a rise in employment to a new high of 32.7 million. The Office for National Statistics said the growing number of vacancies, together with the falling level of unemployment, indicated the jobs market was continuing to tighten. The jobless rate fell from 3.9% to a record 3.8%, the lowest since 1974. However, analysts said the shadow of Brexit uncertainty, which has sent business investment plummeting, was likely to have discouraged firms from hiring and improving wage rates. Illustrating the lack of investment, labour productivity, which measures the labour force’s output per hour, fell for the third consecutive quarter