Bank of England flags dismal wages as holding back interest rate hike August 13, 2014 The Bank of England’s inflation report, released yesterday, showed off Threadneedle Street’s increasing focus on wage growth – one of the last indicators lagging behind the economic recovery, and holding off an increase in interest rates. The Bank has slashed its forecast for the average rise in earnings this year. In the last report, the [...]
HSBC joins RBS in £7.1m payout to bosses to dodge bonus cap August 13, 2014 Bosses at HSBC yesterday received £7.1m in shares in a new fixed allowance which avoids Brussels’ bonus cap. The EU rules stop banks paying bonuses of more than twice that bosses’ salaries. So banks have had to come up with new ways to raise their fixed pay to avoid being hit by the rules. The [...]
In graphs: Wages show the lowest rate of annual growth since 2001 as unemployment falls August 13, 2014 First the good news: employment continued to rise, according to the latest ONS stats, and the unemployment rate for the three months to June reached an almost six-year low of 6.4 per cent. The last time the headline figure was as positive was back in late 2008. But these rosy stats have been tempered; the [...]
UK unemployment rate falls to lowest since 2008 – but pay suffers dip August 13, 2014 The UK's headline unemployment rate dropped to 6.4 per cent in the three months to June, which is down from 6.5 per cent in May and the lowest level since late 2008. UK employment rose in the second quarter of this year to 30.6m, up 1.5 per cent on the same period last year, [...]
RBS pays bosses £3.5m in allowances, not bonuses August 12, 2014 Ten top executives at RBS were awarded £3.5m in fixed allowances yesterday, the first payout under the new system which has replaced bonuses at the bank. Executive pay at RBS, which is 81 per cent owned by the UK government, remains under heavy public scrutiny, with taxpayers sitting on a loss of nearly £15bn after [...]
RBS pays 10 bosses shares, not bonuses, worth £3.5m August 12, 2014 RBS is set to pay 10 top executives a combined total of £3.5m in a move that avoids the strict EU rules on bonuses. The executive to receive the largest number of shares was Rory Cullinan, the head of RBS's 'bad bank'. Cullinan received 154,241 stocks, which, priced at 346 pence each, meant a total of [...]
Here are 600 properties Mark Simmonds can afford in London, despite resigning because £120,000 MP salary is not enough August 12, 2014 The Conservative MP and Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds resigned yesterday, telling the BBC that pay for MPs was not enough for him to spend time with his family in the capital. He said the “intolerable” situation was due to the lack of financial support for MPs which he claims is not enough to rent [...]
UK leads western Europe for self-employment August 12, 2014 When it comes an increase in the number of people who are self-employed, the UK is now ahead of its western European neighbours, according to think tank IPPR. Britain has experienced a rapid growth in its workforce over the past year, with net job creation exceeding 900,000 in the 12 months to April 2014, [...]
City wages up as UK recovery boosts hiring August 3, 2014 Salaries in the finance sector are rising at more than seven times the national average, according to a survey of recruiters published today. Engineers and IT professionals are also in high demand, the study from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCO) shows. Overall, recruiters have 20 per cent more jobs on their books than they did [...]
UK employment in graphs: Unemployment rate falls again but no boost in real wages July 16, 2014 The UK labour market continues its recovery, with today's figures showing the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since late 2008. As today's figures from the Office of National Statistics show, the employment rate continued to surge, reaching 73.1 per cent for the three months to May. This is slightly higher than the pre-downturn [...]