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UK jobs data hints trouble could lie ahead for wage growth
At 3.3%, UK regular pay growth is continuing to rise at a rate close to its post-crisis high. The question is: can this strength persist through 2019 – and in fact, will wage growth gradually accelerate towards 3.5 - 4% as the Bank of England expects? Well, in principle there are few reasons to expect an imminent or sharp slowdown. The recent acceleration in pay growth has been driven by rising skill shortages across the economy, particularly concentrated in sectors such as construction and hospitality. Some of this is undoubtedly down to the lagged effect of earlier economic strength, but equally, there are a ... (full story)