UK wages rose by 3.4% in February, meet estimates

• The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 3.4% y/y compared to 3.4% y/y expected.
• The UK wages including bonuses rose by 3.5% y/y compared to 3.5% y/y expected.
• The UK unemployment rate steadied at 3.9% in February.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses met expectations, arriving at 3.4% 3m y/y in February versus 3.5% last and 3.4% expected while the gauge including bonuses came in 3.5% 3m y/y in February versus 3.5% previous and 3.5% expected.

The Kingdom’s official jobless rate held steady at 3.9% in February, while the claimant count change showed a bigger-than-expected increase.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 28.3k in March, against expectations of a 20k increase and +26.7k seen previously. The claimant count rate rose to 3.0%.