In the UK, total average weekly earnings including bonuses rose 4.2% year-on-year to GBP 735 in the three months to December 2025. This was below market expectations and slower than the marginally revised 4.6% increase recorded in the previous three-month period. It was also the weakest rate of growth since the three months to August 2024.
The slowdown was driven primarily by the private sector, where wage growth eased to 3.5% from 3.8%, the softest pace since early 2021. In the public sector, pay growth also moderated, slowing to 7.0% after a 7.8% increase in the prior period, the lowest rate since July–September 2025.
After adjusting for inflation, total earnings rose 0.5% in the three months to December, down from a 0.7% increase previously and marking the weakest real wage growth since the three months to June 2023.
