Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show the cost of living has fallen on all three measures. Continue reading Inflation falls on all measures
Average Weekly Earnings – pay growth improves but remains below pre-crash levels
The latest average earnings figures from the ONS show that total pay growth was 2.7% in the year to August, up from 2.6% in July and 2.4% in June. The rate is almost back to the level of 2.8% seen in the first three months of the year. In recent months lower bonuses have held back total earnings growth. However, earnings growth excluding bonuses, the regular pay measurement, is stronger. This measure rose by 3.1% in the year to August, up from 2.9% in the year to July and 2.7% in the year to June. Continue reading Average Weekly Earnings – pay growth improves but remains below pre-crash levels
Merit-based rises gain popularity at opted-out councils
IDR monitoring of pay reviews in local government shows that while the median at opted-out councils is in line with the National Joint Council pay award, merit-based rises appear to be gaining popularity among employers outside the national deal.
Continue reading Merit-based rises gain popularity at opted-out councils
Company cars
Company cars are a popular employee benefit, although most schemes only benefit managers or those needing a vehicle to undertake their duties. In 2017, company-owned cars accounted for 8.9% of all registered cars.
Mileage allowances
Mileage allowances are so-called because they are not restricted to the reimbursement of fuel but take into account running costs such as wear, tear and insurance. As such, they tend to be higher than company car fuel rates. Continue reading Mileage allowances
Pay reviews – August median remains at 2.5%
The median pay award across the whole economy remains at 2.5% in the three months to the end of August 2018, according to the latest figures from IDR. The median remained steady in both the private and public sectors, at 2.5% and 2.0% respectively. Awards at firms in the manufacturing area produced an increased median of 2.8%, up by 0.4% since the three months to July with a similar sample size.
Continue reading Pay reviews – August median remains at 2.5%
Pay reviews – Median rise steady at 2.5%
The median pay increase across the economy held steady at 2.5% in the three months to July 2018, according to the latest monitoring figures from IDR. It has not dipped below this figure since the three
months to November 2017. Continue reading Pay reviews – Median rise steady at 2.5%
IDR supports local girls’ football team
Incomes Data Research (IDR) has become an official sponsor of Billericay Girls under 14 football team.
Commenting on the announcement, IDR Director Louisa Withers said:
“IDR is committed to making a tangible difference to society in the way we run our business and recognises that we have a responsibility to our clients, employees and contractors and the wider community in which we operate. When asked about sponsoring this exciting young team we felt it provided a perfect way of putting our principals into practice.”
“We feel it is important to encourage young people to take part in sport. Aside from the health benefits, sports help young people develop skills for later in life, such as confidence and the ability to work as part of a team.”
Our support secures funding for the team’s biggest priority – new kits for the 2018/2019 season. We wish all the players an enjoyable and hopefully successful season ahead.
IDR gains Cyber Security certification
Incomes Data Research has successfully passed Cyber Essentials, demonstrating our commitment to cyber security.
Cyber Essentials is a is a UK government scheme encouraging organisations to adopt good practice in information security. It helps firms guard against the most common cyber threats and ensures firms have robust IT and data security processes and systems in place.
Average Weekly Earnings – Falls in bonus pay nudge earnings growth down to 2.4%
Falls in bonus pay nudge earnings growth down to 2.4%
The rate of growth of average weekly earnings in the whole economy dropped back again in the latest figures from the ONS, to 2.4% in the year to June 2018, down from 2.5% in the year to May and 2.6% in the year to April. Bonus pay fell across all industrial sectors, especially in finance and business services, and was a major contribution to the drop in total pay growth.
Underlying earnings growth, as measured by the ‘regular pay’ series, which excludes bonuses, was a little higher at 2.7%. While this was also down on the previous month’s headline figure – which is based on a rolling three-month average – the single-month figures for regular pay for June showed a slight rise, from 2.7% to 2.8%, in contrast to the single-month figures for total pay, which fell sharply from 2.5% to 2.1%.
Average weekly earnings by sector at June 2018
| Average weekly earnings - regular pay (£pw) | Average weekly bonuses (£pw) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Finance and business services | 582 | 75 |
| Construction | 594 | 23 |
| Manufacturing | 574 | 24 |
| Wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants | 333 | 21 |
| Private sector | 480 | 38 |
| Public sector | 518 | 1 |
In last month’s figures, the fall in bonuses was confined to the finance and business services sector. However, this month bonuses fell back across all sectors, reflecting weakness in the economy in the year to June.
In the finance and business services sector, total average earnings grew by 1.5% in the year to June, marginally up on the figure of 1.4% in the year to May. In this sector the rise in earnings growth excluding bonuses was 2.4%.
In manufacturing, average earnings grew by 2.5% in the year to June, down from 2.9% in the year to May. However, a year ago, in June 2017, the rate of growth in manufacturing was much lower, at 1.3%.
In construction, where pay growth has been higher than other sectors recently, the rate of growth in average earnings was 5.3%, down a little from a revised figure of 5.7% in the year to May. However, in June 2017, the rate of growth in earnings in construction was almost zero, at 0.1%.
In the lowest-paying sector of wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants, which has seen significant job losses over recent months, earnings growth was 3.2% in the year to June, the same as the revised figure for May. In June 2017, the rate of growth was a percentage point lower at 2.2%.
Looking at the private sector overall, average earnings growth was 2.4% in the year to June on the total pay measure and 2.8% on the regular pay measure. Meanwhile in the public sector, pay growth was 2.2% in the year to June, the same as the revised figure for May (both on the total pay measure, since bonuses are not a significant component of public sector pay).
Despite the public sector employing a much greater proportion of graduates and professional staff than the private sector, average weekly earnings are currently lower in the former than in the latter. Actual average earnings in the public sector dropped back from £518 in May to £517 in June, slightly behind the private sector figure of £518. First-stage increases from the recent three-year pay deal in the NHS were only paid in July and as such have yet to appear in the ONS data.