LONDON (Reuters) - British wages excluding bonuses - in the sights of the Bank of England as it considers when to cut interest rates - grew by a stronger-than-expected 6.0% in the first three months of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier, data showed.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast wage growth of 5.9% which would have been lower than the 6.0% increase in the three months to February.
The BoE is monitoring for any signs that Britain's still strong wage growth could revive high inflation although it last week signalled that it could start cutting interest rates from their current 16-year high of 5.25% as early as June.
Tuesday's figures are the first of two labour market data releases from the Office for National Statistics that the BoE will consider before its next meeting.
Total pay, which includes more volatile bonus payments, rose by 5.7%, above economists' expectations of a 5.5% increase.
Private sector regular pay - a key metric for the BoE - eased slightly to 5.9% from 6.0% in the three months to February.
Sterling briefly edged up against the U.S. dollar after the figures were published.
(Reporting by Suban Abdulla; Editing by William Schomberg and Kate Holton)
