Increases fall behind 40 year highest inflation

Median pay settlements rose to 4.2% for the three months up to and including April (LRD Payline, increase on lowest basic rates, see table, right). While January settlements (included in last month’s 3.3% figure) dropped out of the frame, April saw some significant new increases such as Aviva (up to 12.6%) and London Underground (8.4%). Even so, few were equal to April’s 11.1% retail prices index (RPI) increase, or the “40 year high” consumer prices index (CPI) increase of 9%. Many workers will have got less than our 4.2% median; if bigger increases for the lowest-paid are disregarded, the “standard” median was 3.5%.