Commuters on London Bridge. The UK unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in the three months to November. Reuters
Commuters on London Bridge. The UK unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in the three months to November. Reuters
Commuters on London Bridge. The UK unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in the three months to November. Reuters
Commuters on London Bridge. The UK unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in the three months to November. Reuters

Wages grow in UK, but fail to keep pace with inflation


Gillian Duncan
  • English
  • Arabic

Wages in the UK grew at the fastest rate in more than two decades, but failed to keep pace with prices in the three months to November, as inflation remained historically high.

Pay including bonuses rose by an annual 6.4 per cent from September to November, representing the strongest growth rate seen outside of the pandemic.

Growth in pay was strongest in the private sector, at 7.2 per cent, compared to 3.3 per cent for the public sector.

But after adjusting for inflation, which is currently running at 10.7 per cent, pay with and without bonuses both fell by 2.6 per cent.

That was slightly smaller than the record fall in real pay in April to June, but remains “among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001”, the Office for National Statistics said.

Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, the DIY investment platform and coaching service, said: “Yet again, the purchasing power of Britain’s workers is taking a pummelling meaning incomes simply don’t stretch as far — not a huge surprise when you consider the many blows to worker pay from the soaring cost of goods and services to rising mortgage and debt repayments and the highest tax burden since the 1940s.

“With the pay squeeze intensifying and typical households likely to be £2,100 worse off by April 2024, according to the Resolution Foundation, the industrial action rapidly becoming a regular feature of post-pandemic life, as workers down tools in a bid to secure pay rises more closely aligned to the inflation rate, is likely to persist.”

Economists say the Bank of England is worried that the acceleration in pay growth will make it harder to rein in Britain's high inflation rate.

It is expected to raise interest rates for a 10th time in a row early next month.

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said on Monday that a shortage of workers in the labour market posed a major risk to forecasts that inflation will fall from its current levels above 10 per cent.

“Together with last week’s stronger than expected GDP data, we anticipate this will provide enough evidence for the Bank of England to clinch another interest rate increase at its February meeting,” said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.

The main question for investors is the scale of the increase as the British central bank weighs up the risk of a recession with the need to fight inflation.

Financial markets were mostly pricing in a half percentage-point hike in Bank Rate to 4.0 per cent on February 2, but they pointed to a more than one-in-three chance of a smaller 25 basis-point increase.

Sterling rose after Tuesday's data and was up by 0.1 per cent on the day against the US dollar and the euro.

ONS data also showed Britain's jobless rate held at 3.7 per cent, close to its lowest in almost 50 years. Employment rose by a faster-than-expected 27,000.

The overall employment rate was estimated at 75.6 per cent in the three months to September.

That was largely unchanged compared with the previous three months, but one per cent lower than before the pandemic, said the ONS.

“In the latest three-month period, the number of people unemployed for up to six months increased, driven by those aged 16 to 24 years,” it said.

“Those unemployed for over six and up to 12 months increased, while those unemployed for over 12 months decreased in the recent period."

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

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China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

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Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

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The full list of 2020 Brit Award nominees (winners in bold):

British group

Coldplay

Foals

Bring me the Horizon

D-Block Europe

Bastille

British Female

Mabel

Freya Ridings

FKA Twigs

Charli xcx

Mahalia​

British male

Harry Styles

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Michael Kiwanuka

Stormzy​

Best new artist

Aitch

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Mabel

Sam Fender

Best song

Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care

Mabel - Don’t Call Me Up

Calvin Harrison and Rag’n’Bone Man - Giant

Dave - Location

Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove

Lewis Capaldi - Someone you Loved

Tom Walker - Just You and I

Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger

Stormzy - Vossi Bop

International female

Ariana Grande

Billie Eilish

Camila Cabello

Lana Del Rey

Lizzo

International male

Bruce Springsteen

Burna Boy

Tyler, The Creator

Dermot Kennedy

Post Malone

Best album

Stormzy - Heavy is the Head

Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent

Dave - Psychodrama

Harry Styles - Fine Line

Rising star

Celeste

Joy Crookes

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MATCH INFO

Chelsea 4 (Mount 18',Werner 44', Hudson-Odoi 49', Havertz 85')

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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Neo%20Mobility%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20February%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abhishek%20Shah%20and%20Anish%20Garg%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Logistics%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Delta%20Corp%2C%20Pyse%20Sustainability%20Fund%2C%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The biog

Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
 

Company Profile

Company name: Yeepeey

Started: Soft launch in November, 2020

Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani

Based: Dubai

Industry: E-grocery

Initial investment: $150,000

Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year

Titan Sports Academy:

Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps

Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Telephone:  971 50 220 0326

 

RESULT

Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')

How to help

Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.

Account name: Dar Al Ber Society

Account Number: 11 530 734

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AndhaDhun

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan

Rating: 3.5/5

The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

Tank warfare

Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks. 

“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.

“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
World Cup warm up matches

May 24 Pakistan v Afghanistan, Bristol; Sri Lanka v South Africa, Cardiff

May 25 England v Australia, Southampton; India v New Zealand, The Oval

May 26 South Africa v West Indies, Bristol; Pakistan v Bangladesh, Cardiff

May 27 Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton; England v Afghanistan, The Oval

May 28 West Indies v New Zealand, Bristol; Bangladesh v India, Cardiff

While you're here
MATCH DETAILS

Barcelona 0

Slavia Prague 0

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

Uefa Nations League: How it Works

The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.

Updated: January 17, 2023, 9:40 AM`