Please note: Your browser has been unable to
load the stylesheet that accompanies this page. The page is still readable. [Accessibility statement (Related) ]
LONDON (Reuters) - Average earnings rose at their weakest pace in 1-1/2 years in the three months to May despite a tightening labour market and above-target inflation.
The official data may provide some comfort to Bank of England policymakers seeking to rein in price pressures, although worries over capacity constraints and firms' pricing power may keep them on their guard.
The figures were released on Wednesday at the same time as minutes of the central bank's latest policy meeting which showed six of the nine members had voted for this month's interest rate rise.
Sterling fell and interest rate futures rose after the figures as investors scaled back expectations for how far borrowing costs would rise.
"Both measures of unemployment indicate a gentle tightening in the labour market in recent months but critically that hasn't resulted in an increase in pay pressures," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.
The Office for National Statistics said average earnings including bonuses in the three months to May rose 3.5 percent compared with a year earlier. This was below forecasts for a rise of 3.6 percent and the weakest reading since November 2005.
Excluding bonuses, wage growth was also weaker than forecast, at 3.5 percent -- its lowest since September.
However, the figures also showed a tightening labour market.
The number of people claiming jobless benefits fell by 13,800, more than the 8,000 fall forecast. On the internationally comparable ILO measure, the number of unemployed saw its biggest drop since December 2003. That took the jobless rate down to 5.4 percent, its lowest in a year.
(c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
This article: http://business.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1120302007
Last updated: 18-Jul-07 10:24 BST
Last update 10:20am
RSS (Related) RSS Wage growth subdued even as job market tightensBank voted 6-3 for July rate hike (Related) Wage growth subdued as jobless rate falls (Related) Bank voted 6-3 for July rate hike (Related) Barclays says flexible on ABN (Related) LogicaCMG reiterates outlook (Related) Wetherspoon on track as sales rise (Related) Sainsbury confirms bid approach (Related) Tate & Lyle says share buyback up to 275 million pounds (Related) Rio Tinto iron output jumps, copper mixed (Related) Sainsbury confirms bid approach (Related) Imperial to buy Altadis (Related) DJ board endorses News Corp. bid (Related) Honda CEO says UK plant alone can't supply Europe (Related) Who followed King to hike rates in July? (Related) Money (Related) Find a loan (Related) Find a credit card (Related) Find a mortgage (Related) Find a pension (Related) Find a life cover policy (Related)Should people be permitted to drive after drinking alcohol? What do you think? (Related)
Read, comment, vote >> (Related)Police can breathalyse you for crossing double white lines when a solid line is nearer (Related)
Find out more >> (Related)News, reviews and gossip from the festival, direct to your inbox (Related)
Sign up now >> (Related)Positive measures toward stopping your valued profits from going to waste (Related)
Practical Environmental Advice for Business (Related)The 2008 Calendar Collection is NOW ON SALE from just £5.60 (incl p&p) (Related)
Buy NOW >> (Related)Get yourself a competitive life assurance quote online with just a few mouse clicks (Related)
money.scotsman.com (Related)Features, news comment and all the legal gossip every Tuesday in The Scotsman (Related)
Tuesdays in The Scotsman (Related)
No comments:
Post a Comment