LONDON: British workers’ wages rose more slowly in the three months to April despite another surge in job creation, leaving the Bank of England still waiting for clear signs that the economy is ready for higher interest rates.
In a second reading in a row to show a loss of momentum in pay, total earnings, including bonuses, rose by an annual 2.5 percent, the Office for National Statistics said, down from growth of 2.6 percent in the three months to March.
Economists polled by Reuters had mostly forecast growth of 2.6 percent, matching the pace of the three months to March.
Central banks in many rich countries have been stumped by the failure of wages to follow their typical pre-crisis pattern of rising quickly as unemployment falls.
Excluding bonuses, growth in earnings fell for the first time in more than a year, rising by 2.8 percent year-on-year against expectations for growth to hold at 2.9 percent in the Reuters poll.
But the number of people in work rose by a larger than forecast 146,000, pushing up sterling briefly.
“It’s a really strong set of employment figures,” Andrew Wishart, an economist at Capital Economics, said. “It looks like that’s set to continue.”
The BoE expects wages to pick up speed gradually over the next three years, a big reason why it says it is likely to raise borrowing costs gradually over the period.
But last month it said it wanted to be sure the economy had recovered from its near-stagnation in an unusually icy early 2018, before pushing ahead with only its second rate hike since before the global financial crisis.
On Monday, data showed British factories had a weak April.
Tuesday’s data showed that in the month of April alone — when employers often give staff their annual pay rise — regular pay was up by 2.5 percent, its weakest increase since November.
However, the unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent in the three months to April, its lowest since 1975, as expected in the Reuters poll.
Households — whose spending is the main driver of Britain’s economy — struggled last year from the double whammy of slow wage growth and a jump in inflation, due in large part to the fall in the value of the pound after the 2016 Brexit vote.
With unemployment so low, employers have generally been raising pay for staff more quickly, albeit still more slowly than increases of about 4 percent a year that were typical before the global financial crisis.
Data due on Wednesday is expected to show British consumer price inflation edged back up to 2.5 percent in May, but remains well below a five-year peak of 3.1 percent set in November.
The BoE said in May that it expected pay growth of 2.75 percent a year by the end of 2018, rising to 3.5 percent by the end of 2020.
UK wage growth unexpectedly slows even as job creation booms
UK wage growth unexpectedly slows even as job creation booms
First EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials reflects shared policy commitment
RIYADH: The EU–Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Dialogue on Advancing Critical Raw Materials Value Chains, held in Riyadh as part of the Future Minerals Forum, brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to advance strategic cooperation across critical raw materials value chains.
Organized under a Team Europe approach by the EU–GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project, in coordination with the EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom and in close cooperation with FMF, the dialogue provided a high-level platform to explore European actions under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU alongside the Kingdom’s aspirations for minerals, industrial, and investment priorities.
This is in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and broader regional ambitions across the GCC, MENA, and Africa.
ResourceEU is the EU’s new strategic action plan, launched in late 2025, to secure a reliable supply of critical raw materials like lithium, rare earths, and cobalt, reducing dependency on single suppliers, such as China, by boosting domestic extraction, processing, recycling, stockpiling, and strategic partnerships with resource-rich nations.
The first ever EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials was opened by the bloc’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, Christophe Farnaud, together with Saudi Deputy Minister for Mining Development Turki Al-Babtain, turning policy alignment into concrete cooperation.
Farnaud underlined the central role of international cooperation in the implementation of the EU’s critical raw materials policy framework.
“As the European Union advances the implementation of its Critical Raw Materials policy, international cooperation is indispensable to building secure, diversified, and sustainable value chains. Saudi Arabia is a key partner in this effort. This dialogue reflects our shared commitment to translate policy alignment into concrete business and investment cooperation that supports the green and digital transitions,” said the ambassador.
Discussions focused on strengthening resilient, diversified, and responsible CRM supply chains that are essential to the green and digital transitions.
Participants explored concrete opportunities for EU–Saudi cooperation across the full value chain, including exploration, mining, and processing and refining, as well as recycling, downstream manufacturing, and the mobilization of private investment and sustainable finance, underpinned by high environmental, social, and governance standards.
From the Saudi side, the dialogue was framed as a key contribution to the Kingdom’s industrial transformation and long-term economic diversification agenda under Vision 2030, with a strong focus on responsible resource development and global market integration.
“Developing globally competitive mineral hubs and sustainable value chains is a central pillar of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s industrial transformation. Our engagement with the European Union through this dialogue to strengthen upstream and downstream integration, attract high-quality investment, and advance responsible mining and processing. Enhanced cooperation with the EU, capitalizing on the demand dynamics of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, will be key to delivering long-term value for both sides,” said Al-Babtain.
Valere Moutarlier, deputy director-general for European industry decarbonization, and directorate-general for the internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs at European Commission, said the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU provided a clear framework to strengthen Europe’s resilience while deepening its cooperation with international partners.
“Cooperation with Saudi Arabia is essential to advancing secure, sustainable, and diversified critical raw materials value chains. Dialogues such as this play a key role in translating policy ambitions into concrete industrial and investment cooperation,” she added.
