LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The UK unemployment rate dropped in three months to April as expected, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.
The unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points quarterly to 4.7 percent in three months to April, in line with economists' expectations.
At the same time, the employment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 75.2 percent.
The ONS said the latest estimates continue to show signs of recovery in the labor market.
Annual growth in average employee pay has continued to increase. However, this was driven by compositional effects of a fall in the number and proportion of lower-paid employee jobs.
Average earnings including bonus grew 5.6 percent annually, well above economists' forecast of 4.9 percent. Likewise, excluding bonus, earnings were up 5.6 percent versus the expected rate of 5.3 percent.
The number of payrolled employees increased for the sixth consecutive month, up by 197,000 in May to 28.5 million.
In May, claimant count dropped 92,600 from the previous month, data revealed.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX