U.K. Wages Rise As Labor Market Keeps Improving

The number of unemployed people in the U.K. continued to decline in October, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. For the three-month period to October there were 1.96 million people without a job, 63,000 fewer than for the May-to-July period. The joblessness rate for the period remained at 6%, staying around a six-year low, but slightly higher than forecasts of a 5.9% reading. Earnings excluding bonuses rose 1.6% year-over-year. Including bonuses, wages gained 1.4%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index stayed lower after the data, trading 0.7% down at 6,288.75. The pound was also little changed at $1.5711.