Wage growth deals blow to hopes for June rate cut
Evening Standard|May 14, 2024
HOPES of relief from high interest rates next month were dealt a blow today when latest official data showed "stubborn" wage growth did not fall in the three months to March.
Jonathan Prynn
Wage growth deals blow to hopes for June rate cut

City investors and analysts downgraded their expectations of a rate cut at the next meeting of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in June after figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that regular earnings grew by an unchanged annual rate of 6% during the quarter.

Even more worryingly, April figures drawn from PAYE data showed pay going up by 6.9%, fuelled by high bonuses in the City and the 9.8% rise in the National Living Wage, which pushed growth in the hospitality sector to 9.2% in the month.

The stronger than expected wage growth means that "hawks" on the MPC might feel that inflationary pressures in the economy are still too strong to make it safe to vote for a rate cut in June.

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