Vicky McKeever writes:
UK unemployment has risen to its highest level in four years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the number of pay rolled employees falling and wage growth slowing ahead of the autumn budget.
The rate of UK unemployment was estimated to be at 5% in July to September, up from 4.8% in the previous three month period. This was also its highest level since February 2021 and was ahead of consensus expectations of 4.9%.
The estimated number of payrolled employees in the UK fell by 117,000 in the year to September, and declined by 32,000 on the month.
An early estimate for payrolled employees in October showed a decline of 180,000 on the year and 32,000 from the previous month.
Meanwhile, annual growth in average earnings, excluding bonuses, was 4.6% in July to September, which was down slightly from 4.7% for the previous three months.