The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
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ONS labour market figures Published: 13 June 2023 Emailed: 14 June 2023
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released the labour market overview for June 2023. These releases are chock full of information, but if you dive in there are some interesting points to note for the payroll profession.
Here are some of the headline statistics you may be curious about:
• the employment rate (16-64) is at 76%, with increases to both employed and self-employed workers • since last month, payrolled employees across the UK have been over 30 million • wage growth of employees was 7.2% • in real terms, this still means a fall of 1.3% • 257,000 working days were lost because of labour disputes in April With the news of wage growth being reasonably high, this brings into question the upcoming Bank of England decision regarding interest rates. Wage growth can have an impact on prices, which can cause inflation and therefore impacts interest rates. The deci sion from the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is due on 22 June 2023.
The policy team will be paying attention to the announcement and the MPC’s comments regarding future increases. If inflation is not brought into control in a managed way, the future of the labour market will be uncertain for some time.
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CPI remains at 8.7% Published: 21 June 2023 Emailed: 21 June 2023
The UK's inflation rate stayed at 8.7% in May, which is the same as the April rate.
The CPI rose by 8.7% in the 12 months to May 2023. Unchanged from April but down from a recent peak of 11.1% in October 2022. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that the October 2022 peak was the highest annual inflation rate since 1981. The monthly rate in May 2023 was 0.7%, the same as in May last year. According to data released by the ONS today, rising prices for air travel, recreational and cultural goods and services, and second-hand cars resulted in the largest upward contributions to inflation. Costs for motor fuel fell, putting the biggest downward pressures on inflation. While prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose in May 2023 but by less than in May 2022, this also lead to an easing in the annual rates.
Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said:
‘‘We know how much high inflation hurts families and businesses across the country, and our plan to halve the rate this year is the best way we can keep costs and interest rates down.
We will not hesitate in our resolve to support the Bank of England as it seeks to squeeze inflation out of our economy while also providing targeted support with the cost of living.”
Keep an eye out for our update on the upcoming Bank of England bank rates, set to be released tomorrow.
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Bank of England raises bank rate to 5% Published: 22 June 2023 Emailed: 28 June 2023
The Bank of England (BoE) has announced that the bank rate has been uplifted by 0.5%, now set at 5%. This is the thirteenth consecutive rise since December 2021.
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