Inflation at 9%

RPI is at 9% with forecasts showing rises up to 11%. The “cost of living crisis” continues, with average weekly earnings (AWE) only rising by 4.1% in February, feeding into increasing levels of industrial action. Payline shows some big individual increases in pay settlements (see pp15-17) but overall, pay growth actually dropped slightly on the previous month to 3.2%. Earnings (AWE) in the private sector shows it forging ahead, with 4.7% growth in regular pay compared to 1.7% in the public sector. Manufacturing is achieving modest below-inflation growth (2.3%), construction has picked up at 4.3%. Finance and business services have now also dropped below inflation at 5.6%. Retail earnings growth dropped to 5.7% from 6.9% the previous month.