Labour Research May 2008

News

Inflation outstrips pay growth

The gap between inflation and earnings growth widened at the beginning of the year. Under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation was 4.1% in January and February, but earnings growth was 3.8% in January and 3.6% in February. The March RPI figure was down to 3.8%.

Under the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which excludes housing costs, the March inflation rate stayed at 2.5%.