Over the same time period, employment growth hit its strongest level since December 2015, while the employment rate reached a record high of 74.9%.
Accordingly, the stats revealed there were 32 million more people in work, 324,000 more than a year earlier.
Despite acknowledging these findings as good news, Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted real earnings in the UK are continuing to decline which does not bode well for economic growth.
“The squeeze on household finance continues, with wages growing by less than inflation for a third consecutive month,” Brettell said. “Pay (including bonuses) grew by 1.8% meaning that after inflation, average earnings in the three-month period fell by 0.7% compared with a year earlier.”
With the UK economy heavily reliant on the consumer, Brettell said falling real incomes should eventually translate into lower retail sales.
“The UK labour market is becoming increasingly difficult to interpret,” he said. “Conventional economic theory suggests that low unemployment should ultimately lead to upward pressure on wages – but there has been scant evidence of this during the latest squeeze on household finances.
“Perhaps workers simply don’t have the bargaining power they once did.”
