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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, chooses her preferred articles for this periodic bulletin.
Towards the close of 2025, the UK witnessed a deceleration in salary increases, with the unemployment rate climbing to 5.2 per cent, providing the newest evidence of a softening employment landscape.
As per the Office for National Statistics, the yearly expansion in mean weekly earnings, bonus payments excluded, moderated to 4.2 per cent during the three months ending December. This figure represents a decrease from the adjusted 4.4 per cent recorded in the three months to November. Concurrently, private sector salary increases lessened to 3.4 per cent.
Information drawn from fiscal documents revealed that the count of salaried workers in the UK decreased by 6,000 between November and December. This resulted in a reduction of employment by 121,000, or 0.4 per cent, throughout the preceding year. Furthermore, preliminary data for January indicated a sequential decrease of 11,000, though adjustments to these numbers are anticipated.
The Bank of England is monitoring intently the moderation in the British employment sector, as it assesses the opportune moment to reduce its borrowing costs.
Even though the rate of unemployment has climbed considerably during the last year, the BoE has pursued more compelling proof of a deceleration in earnings expansion and abating price rises.
This is an unfolding narrative