Private-sector bonuses boost average earnings

Latest figures from the LRD PayLine database show that settlements for the three months to February have a median (midpoint) of 3.0%. The public-sector median for the three months is 3.5% compared with 3.0% in the private sector.

Settlements in the service sector were running ahead of manufacturing - a median of 3.3% compared with 3.0%.

Average earnings

The new figures on average earnings show a sharp jump in the annual increase to 6.6% in the year to January. This is clearly attributable to bonuses, as the index excluding bonuses only rose by 3.8% for the same period.

The biggest influence comes from private-sector services, which saw an increase for the year of 8.7%, whilst manufacturing earnings rose by a more modest 3.4%. The surge in bonuses appears to have occurred earlier this year than last, as 2003 saw the increase including bonuses peak at 4.4% in March.

Inflation

The latest figures on inflation show that both the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) have fallen by the same amount, with the RPI down to 2.5% and the CPI down to 1.3%. The RPI excluding mortgage index payments also fell, by 0.1 percentage points to 2.3%.