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Beware the unintended consequences of hiking the minimum wage September 29, 2014 ED MILIBAND’S promise of an £8 per hour minimum wage by 2020 is one of the latest salvoes in the political battle over living standards. We can expect more help for hard-pressed families from the other party conferences, including the trumpeting of October’s above-inflation rise in the minimum wage. With real wages having fallen dramatically, [...]
Rate-rigging scandal: Lloyds share price slides as it sacks eight people and holds back £3m of bonuses September 29, 2014 Having paid out £226m to US and UK authorities for various cases of rate-rigging back in July, Lloyds Banking Group has now turned its attentions to its own staff, firing eight and holding back £3m of bonuses. Shares in the bank fell 0.5 per cent in early afternoon trading after it said it "has taken [...]
Sluggish wages expected to weigh down on UK consumer spending September 28, 2014 REAL wages will fail to take off in the next couple of years, a group of economists will warn today in a report that predicts sluggish growth in consumer spending. The EY Item Club expects the UK’s jobs boom to continue, with employment climbing higher. Yet “annual wage growth over the next three years will [...]
How long would it take Europe’s minimum wage employees to buy a Big Mac? September 22, 2014 Ed Miliband has announced that a Labour government would raise the minimum wage to £8.00 by 2020 if it came to power. The current lower bound is £6.31, which will increase to £6.50 on 1 October, so the proposed hike would be a dramatic increase. If the bank of England were to average [...]
Ed Miliband promises minimum wage rise should Labour win next general election September 21, 2014 Ed Miliband has promised an increase in the national minimum wage to £8 per hour should his party win at the next general election. The Labour leader has said it is "not good enough" that one in five people in the UK "are in low pay". Ahead of the Labour party conference in Manchester this week, [...]
Wages increase hoped to lure England stars home September 17, 2014 PREMIERSHIP rugby chiefs hope a rise in team’s salary caps by £500,000 per season can end the exodus of English players to foreign climes. Potential England stars such as Steffon Armitage and Toby Flood are currently plying their trade in France and are consequently not eligible to play for the national team under its own [...]
How high is UK unemployment in your area? September 17, 2014 The UK unemployment rate came in at 6.2 per cent today, but how well are different regions doing? There is a great disparity between the top and bottom performers. From the ONS report: For the period April 2013 to March 2014, the local authority with the highest unemployment rate in Great Britain was Hartlepool at [...]
Wages increase by 0.6 per cent, 0.9 per cent behind inflation September 17, 2014 The gap between wages and consumer price inflation is still stubbornly wide, official figures published this morning showed. Earnings not including bonuses were up 0.7 per cent over the 12 months to the end of July, but inflation is almost a percentage point higher at 1.5 (1.6 during July). Unemployment data was also out this [...]
UK unemployment falls to 6.2 per cent – its lowest since 2008 September 17, 2014 The UK's headline unemployment rate fell to 6.2 per cent in the three months to the end of July – its lowest level since 2008. The figure was roughly in line with expectations, having fallen steadily as the economy recovers, although wages are yet to catch up. There are still 2 million unemployed and 30.6 [...]
UK employment rises by second fastest rate in the EU (after Hungary) September 12, 2014 The United Kingdom enjoyed the EU's second largest rise in employment in the 12 months to July, with the annualised rate up 2.7 per cent (seasonally adjusted). Only Hungary – at 3.1 per cent year on year – saw a faster rise. Eurostat released figures for employment rates across the European Union today, showing second [...]