MNI DATA: UK Pay Awards Soar To 10Y High In January: XpertHR

--UK November-January Median Pay Deals 2.8% VS 2.0% Oct-Dec: XpertHR

     LONDON (MNI) - UK median pay deals as forecast by XpertHR jumped to a

decade high in the three months ending January, a survey by XpertHR found. 

     Median pay awards jumped to 2.8%, up 0.8pp from December's 2.0%. 

     The reading is the highest since December 2008, the early days of the

financial crisis, when awards stood at 3.7%. The jump sees pay awards outpace

RPI inflation for the first time in almost two-and-a-half years. 

     However, the jump in pay awards rather fortuitously coincided with RPI

dropping in January to a two-year low at 2.5%. 

     In December's release, XpertHR noted that the New Year tends to mark the

start of a wave of pay settlements, and pay award growth is indeed seen heading

back above the 2.5% mark in January, a forecast appears to have hit the mark. 

     "The increase in pay awards as the beginning of this year will be a boost

to many employees who have seen years of subdued increases," said Sheila

Attwood, XpertHR pay and benefits editor

     "However, it is likely that as we progress through the year our headline

measure of pay awards will move back towards the 2.5% seen throughout most of

2018," she added. 

--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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