UK employers cut back on bonuses and hiring as economic slowdown hits jobs market

A rise in university graduates seeking a job meant a sharp rise in the availability of workers. Photograph: Fredrick Kippe/Alamy

Employers have cut annual pay increases and pared back hiring in recent months as the economic slowdown took its toll on the jobs market.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), released on Tuesday, showed that UK unemployment edged higher in the three months to June but the official jobless rate was unchanged at 4.7%, a four-year high.