Wages growth in the UK economy accelerated at the weakest pace in over two years in August amid further signs of a cooling jobs market that could prompt more interest rate cuts this year.

Official figures showed a decline in average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, from 5.1 per cent to 4.9 per cent in the three months to August, the slowest pace since June 2022. The figure was in line with economists’ forecasts.

When including bonus payments, wage growth was lower at 3.8 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics. Earnings growth has been steadily falling over the last year due to interest rate rises as the Bank of England attempted to dampen wage growth in an effort to reduce inflation.

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