THE U.K. labor market remained solid with record job vacancies and a surge in hiring in September, figures that may embolden the Bank of England to increase interest rates as soon as this year.

The number of payrolled employees climbed by 207,000 last month and is now higher than they were before the start of the pandemic, according to data from the U.K. tax authority. Vacancies rose to 1.2 million, the highest number on record, the Office for National Statistics said.

Underlying wage growth rose to between 4.1 percent and 5.6 percent in the three months through August, indicating price pressures in the economy that have started to concern the central bank. Policymakers have warned that inflation will top 4 percent later this year, double their target, and will probably prompt a tightening in monetary policy.

The number of people in work rose 235,000 in the three months through August, the biggest quarterly increase since 2015. Unemployment ticked down to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent.

Meanwhile, British shoppers increased their spending in September at the slowest pace since January, when the country was stuck in a coronavirus lockdown, as they worried about a shortage of fuel, according to a British Retail Consortium survey published yesterday.

(SD-Agencies)