Employment is rising because labour is cheap – especially in the private sector August 19, 2014 The latest employment figures confirm the buoyancy of the UK labour market. In the April to June quarter of this year, employment rose by 167,000 on the previous quarter, to an all-time high of 30.6m. Unemployment also fell, by no less than 132,000. Taking a somewhat longer perspective, the low point for employment was reached [...]
Three reasons why it looks like wages are doing so badly – Bottom Line August 17, 2014 The picture seemed to be crystal clear. With pay packets getting smaller, and Bank of England governor Mark Carney striking a notably dovish tone, any rise in interest rates could be assumed to be some way off. This was the mood half-way through last week, when the pound dropped more than one cent against the [...]
How to impress your boss: 5 ways to put yourself first in line for promotions and bonuses August 15, 2014 So you want to impress your boss? Who doesn’t? It is kind of important after all. Being “in” with your boss helps you stand out from the crowd – making you more likely to get promoted, get more money or survive redundancy. But you don’t want to suck up to your boss – you don’t [...]
Falling unemployment vs stagnant wages: Jobs market to dominate 2015 general election August 13, 2014 The battle lines for next year’s election were drawn yesterday as the Conservatives and Labour clashed over their differing views of the latest figures on the recovery. Britain’s tumbling rate of unemployment has given the government a boost ahead of the vote on 7 May next year – but Labour is stressing the stagnant level [...]
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 [...]