British Employers Report Low Pay Rises

LONDON (Reuters) – British employers offered staff the joint-lowest pay rises since June 2022, with a median increase of 4% for the three months ending in August, according to figures from human resources data company Brightmine.

These figures align with other pay surveys and official data, indicating a continuous slowdown in pay growth now that inflation has returned to near the Bank of England's 2% target.

The Bank of England (BoE) is closely monitoring pay growth as it seeks further signs of weakening inflation pressures before considering another interest rate cut.

Sheila Attwood, senior content manager at Brightmine, stated, "Employers that have made pay awards so far this year have already reacted to the falling inflation environment by implementing lower pay awards than last year."

The 4% annual increase from June to August matches the previously reported figure for July, which was adjusted down from an earlier estimate of 4.5%.

Official statistics indicated that growth in average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, reached its slowest pace in over two years at 5.1% for the three months leading to July.

A BoE survey of businesses conducted over the three months to August anticipated wage increases of 4.1% over the next year.

Brightmine, formerly known as XpertHR, noted that data for the three months ending in August was derived from 67 pay awards impacting 900,000 employees.