The state pension will rise by about £460 a year from April after new data showed wages grew at an annual rate of 4%.

It means that the flat-rate state pension for those who reached state pension age after April 2016 should rise to £230.05 a week or £11,962.60 a year, a rise of £460.

The old basic state pension (for those who reached state pension age before April 2016) is expected to go up to £176.30 a week or £9,167.60 a year, a rise of £353.60.

Final figures will be decided by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, around the time of the Budget and may be different if official earnings figures are revised in a month.

Under the “triple lock”, the state pension rises each year by either 2.5%, inflation, or average earnings – whichever is the highest figure.

Average earnings growth cooled by more than market expectations, with regular pay rising by 5.1% YoY, the slowest rate of growth since June 2022, and overall pay (including bonuses) rising by 4.0% YoY, the slowest rate since November 2020.

Even so, the uplift will come on the day that the Prime Minister faces a vote in the Commons over plans to cut the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

More than nine million pensioners will no longer be eligible for up to £300 this winter after the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced the introduction of means-testing for the payments.

Other data released by the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate in the May to July period slipped to 4.1%, the lowest since the three months to January 2024.

Economists believe that the data will be consistent with interest rates remaining on hold at next month’s Bank of England meeting, with a cut in November.