17.07.201805:04:00UTC+00UK Employment At Record, Pay Growth Slows

Britain's employment level set a fresh record in the three months to May and unemployment was unchanged, yet pay growth eased to its lowest in six months, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.

The number of employment was a record high 32.399 million in the March to May period, rising by 137,000 from the previous three months. Economists had forecast employment growth of 115,000.

The employment rate rose to a record 75.7 percent from 75.6 percent in the three months to April period.

The UK unemployment rate remained at 4.2 percent, which was the joint lowest since 1975. The figure matched economists' expectations.

Average weekly earnings including bonus, or total pay, grew 2.5 percent year-on-year in the three months to May, which was slower than the 2.6 percent in the previous three months. Pay growth was in line with economists' predictions.

Excluding bonus, average weekly earnings increased 2.7 percent, a tad slower than the 2.8 percent rise in the previous three-month period, but matched economists' expectations.