British wages excluding bonuses grew by 6.2% in the last three months of 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 6.0% annual rise in the Office for National Statistics' measure of regular earnings in the October-to-December period.

The Bank of England is watching pay growth closely as it tries to gauge how much inflation pressure remains in the economy and whether it can start to consider cutting interest rates from their highest level since 2008. (Reporting by William Schomberg and Suban Abdulla; editing by Kate Holton)