FX.co ★ UK Wage Growth Slows to Over 3-Year Low

In the three-month period ending September 2025, regular pay in the UK, excluding bonuses, experienced a year-on-year increase of 4.6%, reaching GBP 684 per week. This marked a slight decline from the 4.7% growth observed in the previous quarter and met market forecasts. Notably, this represented the most modest rise in regular pay since February-April 2022. Wages in the private sector decelerated to 4.2%, down from 4.4%, the slowest growth since the end of 2021. Conversely, public sector compensation surged to 6.6% from 6.0%, marking the most significant increase since late 2023. Industry-wise, the most substantial annual pay increases occurred in wholesale, retail, hotels, and restaurants, with a rise of 5.7%, followed by services (4.7%), manufacturing (4.4%), construction (3.5%), and finance and business services (2.7%). When adjusted for inflation, real wages saw a modest growth of 0.5%, the least robust since 2023.