Jeremy Hunt hailed a cost-of-living boost for Britons as new figures showed wages continue to rise faster than inflation.

       The Chancellor said the increase would help ease the “pressures on families” across the UK.

       Mr Hunt also said he is “confident” more people will get back into work as the jobless rate rose.

       Official numbers revealed that regular average earnings growth remained unchanged at 6% in the three months to March.

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       While this helped wages outstrip inflation by 2.4% it may mean the Bank of England holds off cutting interest rates for a little bit longer.

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       However, crunch figures next week are expected to show inflation has tumbled below 3%, making a cut this summer more likely.

       Jeremy Hunt (Image: Getty)

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       Mr Hunt said: “This is the 10th month in a row that wages have risen faster than inflation, which will help with the cost-of-living pressures on families.

       “While we are dealing with some challenges in our labour supply, including pandemic impacts, as our reforms on childcare, pensions tax reform and welfare come online I am confident we will start to increase the number of people in work.”

       The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of UK unemployment rose to 4.3% in the three months to March, which is the highest since May to July last year and up from 4.2% in the previous three months.

       Experts said the Bank will be looking at the next set of job numbers carefully, given last month’s near 10% rise in the National Living Wage, while it will also likely want to see further progress toward target in the upcoming April inflation data.

       Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “We continue to see tentative signs that the jobs market is cooling.

       “At the same time the steady decline in the number of job vacancies has continued for a 22nd consecutive month, although numbers remain above pre-pandemic levels.”

       In other signs of a cooling jobs market, figures from HM Revenue & Customs estimated the number of UK workers on payrolls tumbled by 85,000 to 30.2 million in April, which is the largest fall since May 2020, although the ONS said this was subject to revision.

       Vacancies in the jobs sector also dropped by 26,000 quarter on quarter to 898,000 in the three months to April.

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       The data comes after official figures last week showed the UK emerged from a short and shallow recession, with gross domestic product (GDP) up 0.6% in the first three months of the year.

       Experts said the latest jobs data showed the impact of interest rates remaining at their highest since 2008, at 5.25%.

       Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, said: “The likelihood of a summer rate cut, with many consumers pinning their hopes on a move as early next month, may be slightly dented by the better-than-expected pay growth data.”

       Rob Wood, of Pantheon Macroeconomics, said he believed a rate cut in June was still “on track” despite the strong wages growth.

       “That said, strong wage growth will likely stop the Monetary Policy Committee cutting bank rates quickly,” he said.

       The ONS estimated there were 22,000 working days lost to strike action across the UK in March.

       It added that the number of people classed as economically inactive rose to 9.4 million in the first three months of 2024 – up 1.1% quarter-on-quarter and 3.3% higher than a year earlier.

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