UK Job Market Remains Strong

(RTTNews) - The UK labor market remained strong in the three months to February, ahead of rise in payroll taxes and new trade tariffs, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Tuesday.

Annual growth in employees' earnings excluding bonuses was 5.9 percent in the December to February period. This was slightly slower than the expected growth of 6.0 percent.

Including bonus, total earnings climbed 5.6 percent from the previous year compared to the forecast of 5.7 percent. The unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in the December to February period, unchanged from the preceding period and matched economists' expectations.

In March, payroll employment decreased 78,000 from the previous month to 30.3 million, led by the private sector.

The number of vacancies decreased 26,000 on the quarter to 781,000 in January to March. This was the 33rd consecutive quarterly decline, the ONS said.

While the jobs market softened further, there were few signs of this feeding through to slower wage growth, Capital Economics economist Ashley Webb said.

"But if the more uncertain backdrop from the recent US tariffs chaos soon becomes a bigger drag on firms' hiring intentions, pay growth could start to fade more markedly," the economist added.

ING economist James Smith said the labor market showed little sign of damage following the hike in employers' National Insurance.

Although surveys signaled a negative picture about hiring intentions and layoffs, that is not really played out in the official numbers so far, the economist noted. The recent survey from REC/KPMG showed that job placements declined notably in March due to weaker economic confidence and tighter client budgets.