London, (AFP) - Unemployment rates in Britain are still close to their lowest levels in 50 years, but the value of wages is falling at a record pace, with inflation reaching the highest level in decades, official data showed Tuesday.

The National Statistics Office said in a statement that the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in the three months ending in June.

That rate was unchanged from the three months ending in May.

ONS's director of economic statistics, Darren Morgan, said that while recent data suggested the number of vacancies remained "historically very high, it has fallen for the first time since the summer of 2020" when the UK briefly emerged from pandemic-related lockdown measures. Covid.

Excluding bonuses, he added, real wages "are still falling faster than at any time since record breaking records began in 2001".

This comes as inflation in the UK rose to a 40-year high of 9.4 percent amid higher energy and food prices.

The Bank of England expects inflation to peak at just over 13 percent in Britain this year, tipping its economy into recession.

The National Statistics Office will publish the latest inflation figures on Wednesday.