UK employers give joint-lowest pay rises since June 2022, Brightmine says

LONDON (Reuters) – British employers gave staff the joint-lowest pay rises since June 2022 in the three months to the end of August, offering a median raise of 4%, figures from human resources data company Brightmine showed on Tuesday.

The figures are in broadly line with other pay surveys and official data showing a continued slowing of pay growth now inflation has returned to near the Bank of England’s 2% target.

The BoE is watching pay growth closely as it awaits further signs that inflation pressures are weakening before it cuts interest rates again.

“Employers that have made pay awards so far this year have already reacted to the falling inflation environment by putting in place lower pay awards than made last year,” said Sheila Attwood, senior content manager at Brightmine.

The 4% annual increase in the three months to August was the same as the figure for the three months to July, which was revised down from an earlier estimate of 4.5%.

Official figures showed that growth in average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, was the slowest in more than two years in the three months to July at 5.1%.

A BoE survey of businesses over the three months to August expected to raise wages by 4.1% over the next 12 months.

Brightmine – formerly known as XpertHR – said the data for the three months to August was based on 67 pay awards covering 900,000 employees.