Pressure on wages came as official figures showed that the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 71,000 or 0.2 per cent, between July and August to 29.7 million, theThe economic inactivity rate – measuring those not in work and not looking for work – increased by 0.4 percentage points on the quarter to 21.7 per cent, its highest since the three months to January 2017.
CPI inflation jumped to a fresh 40-year high of 10.1 per cent in July as energy and food bills sent living costs spiralling upwards. The ONS added that total pay including bonuses lifted by 5.5 per cent for the three-month period, falling by 3.6 per cent with inflation taken into account.