MNI DATA: UK Jul Pay Awards Fall From Early Year High: XpertHR

--UK May-July Pay Median Pay Deals 2.5% 

By Jai Lakhani

     LONDON (MNI) - UK median pay deals stood at 2.3% in the three months

through July, falling after six consecutive months at 2.5%, a survey by XpertHR

found. 

     The median pay award across the whole economy was 2.3% between May and

July, with the middle half of pay awards (the interquartile range) worth between

1.8% and 3.0%.

     The three months to July represent a quiet part of the pay bargaining

calendar as more than 7 in 10 pay settlements recorded on XpertHR pay databank

are effected in the first four months of each calendar year. 

     As the majority of organisations set their annual pay review date for

January or April, the sample size fell from 271 to 51, meaning the results could

suffer from small sample bias. 

     --PUBLIC SETOR PAY

     Of the 51 awards sampled, the median for the private sector was 2.3%,

compared with 2.0% in the public sector. According to XpertHR, the private

sector has fared better than the public sector for pay awards for many years but

the first major public sector pay awards for 2018 are now beginning to settle.

This is made apparent by the increase to 2.0% in the three months to July from

1.7% previously. 

     The 2.0% median pay award in the public sector was the amount awarded to

the Armed Forces and the Prison Service, as well as by numerous local

authorities.

     On a sector basis, pay awards in the manufacturing/production sector were

strong at 2.9% in the three months up to July. The services sector median pay

award of 2.0% is down 0.5pp from the previous rolling three months. 

     Sheila Attwood, XpertHR pay and benefits editor, argues that whilst there

has been a small dip in the pay awards in July,"they are still running higher

than a year ago and the majority of employers are rewarding employees with a

greater increase than at their previous pay review" 

     The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's central forecast is for a

pick-up in earnings growth this year. However, the August inflation report

projections were revised down from the BOE's May projections. Headline average

weekly earnings growth were revised down from a forecast rise of 2.75% by the

end of 2018 to 2.5%.  

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3828; email: jai.lakhani@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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