Growth in UK service sector pay averaged and annualised 2.8pc in the three months through April, the slowest pace in nine years, according to the Confederation of British Industry's latest quarterly pay settlements survey. This is the slowest pace of service sector pay growth since March 1994, the CBI said. The CBI's quarterly private sector pay survey has been issued since 1980.
Service sector pay growth averaged 3.1pc in the three months through January. In the manufacturing sector, pay settlements rose an average 3.0pc in the three months through April, up from 2.8pc in the three months through January. The CBI noted that the first several months of the year are key, as this is when most firms introduce pay changes. Service sector pay growth is now below manufacturing pay growth for the first time in six years, the CBI noted. Ian MacCaffertey, chief economist at the CBI, said the service sector has been hit by slowing retail sales, and a rising pressure on profits in the financial services and tourism industries. The survey covers 1,400 private sector pay settlements involving 1.6m employees a year. ///www.fxcentre.com