UK pay rates up but still lagging behind price rises

LONDON (AP) - Official figures are showing wages in Britain creeping up but still lagging the rise in prices, meaning households continue to experience a real-terms pay cut as they prepare for Christmas.

The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that average weekly earnings in the three months to end-October were 2.5 percent higher than the year before when they include bonus payments, and up 2.3 percent when bonuses are excluded.

Though up from the previous rates of 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent, pay growth is running lower than the equivalent 3 percent annual inflation rate recorded in October. Figures on Tuesday showed inflation up further in November to 3.1 percent, its highest since March 2012.

Elsewhere, the statistics agency said the unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent despite a fall in employment.