UK wage growth slows in late 2016

British workers saw their pay grow more slowly than expected at the end of last year, official data showed on Wednesday, ahead of a likely squeeze on their living standards from higher inflation in 2017.

At the same time, the employment rate hit a fresh all-time high as the number of people in work rose in the three months to December having fallen in the two previous monthly reports.

Britain's labor market remained strong in 2016 despite the referendum decision in June to leave the European Union.

The unemployment rate in the October-to-December period held at an 11-year low of 4.8 percent, the Office for National Statistics said.

But pay growth remains weak and Wednesday's data showed that, when adjusted for inflation, the rise in earnings was the slowest since the three months to February 2015.

"With prices rising faster, real pay growth is now slowing down," Frances O'Grady, the head of Britain's Trades Union Congress umbrella group, said. "This will be worrying for families whose have still not seen their living standards recover following the financial crisis."