UK unemployment climbed to 5% in the three months to September, the highest rate, outside the pandemic, in over a decade, while wage growth slowed to 4.6%. This signals a cooling labour market, reinforcing expectations that the Bank of England could cut interest rates as early as December. Employers have cut 180,000 payroll jobs since the last Budget, amid rising employment taxes and growing fears of further fiscal tightening. Business groups warn that rising employment costs and added regulatory burdens are discouraging hiring. Markets responded swiftly: traders lifted the odds of a BoE rate cut next month to 75%, the pound slipped, and gilt yields fell, with the two-year yield hitting its lowest level since August.