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UK state pension could rise by about £460 a year from April, wage growth figures suggest
The number of people classed as economically inactive has dropped, but remains near record levels.
There were 9.298m people neither in work nor looking for a job in May-July, a drop of 136,000 in the quarter.
“The high level of inactivity is expected to persist in the near term, as the number of long-term sick and the backlog in NHS waiting lists are likely to remain elevated. That could put pressure on the economy if demand recovers unexpectedly strongly.