Economists polled predicted regular wage growth of 5.4%.
The Bank of England said it will keep a careful eye on wage growth when it dropped interest rates on August 1 after maintaining them at a 16-year high of 5.25% for over a year
Regular pay has been expanding at about double the rate that the Bank of England believes is compatible with keeping inflation at 2% in the medium term, and the central bank expects inflation to rise above target on Wednesday.
However, employers anticipate that reduced headline inflation will diminish pressure to raise salaries in the coming year. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development stated on Monday that companies anticipated to raise pay by 3%, the lowest level in two years, while a Bank of England study predicted a 4.1% increase.
Sterling climbed against the US dollar soon after the data was released.
Last month, newly elected Labour Party finance minister Rachel Reeves authorized pay increases of at least 5% for millions of public sector workers, including a 22% increase for junior physicians over two years to end a long-running labour dispute.
The BoE is more concerned with growth in private-sector pay, which it claims has a more direct impact on inflation, and expects it to drop to 5% in the fourth quarter of this year and 3% in late 2025.
Regular pay growth in the private sector dropped to 5.2% in May, down from 5.6% in the previous three months.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, lower than the 4.5% predicted in a Reuters poll and the lowest since the three months ending February.
Annual increase in average earnings including bonuses fell substantially to 4.5%, the lowest level since late 2021, due to backdated compensation payments for public health personnel in June 2023.
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