Explore Business Standard
Wage Payment
Wages in the UK are still rising at record highs, official figures showed Tuesday, as inflation remains stubbornly high. The Office for National Statistics said that wages, excluding bonus payments, rose by 7.3% in the three months to May, unchanged over the previous three-month period and matching the highest rate since records began in 2001. The agency's director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said that due to high inflation "the real value of weekly earnings are still falling, although now at its slowest rate since the end of 2021. Though inflation has fallen from its peak of over 10% at the end of last year, it remains elevated at 8.7%. The failure of inflation to fall as anticipated has stoked concerns that the Bank of England will continue to raise interest rates in the coming months rather than take a pause. The central bank lifted its main interest rate to a 15-year high of 5% last month, which has led to a sharp increase in mortgage rates. Elsewhere, the statistics
Nurses employed in the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS), many of them Indian, are joining picket lines up and down the country on Thursday in the biggest strikes in history to demand better pay and working conditions amid a cost-of-living crisis. Up to 100,000 nursing staff are taking part in strikes in England, Northern Ireland and Wales in protest against what they say is years of real-terms pay cuts due to inflation and concerns over patient safety. A further day of strike action is also planned for next Tuesday. "For many of us, this is our first time striking and our emotions are really mixed. The NHS is in crisis, the nursing profession can't take any more, our loved ones are already suffering, said Pat Cullen, General Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). "It is not unreasonable to demand better. This is not something that can wait. We are committed to our patients and always will be, she said. RCN has been campaigning for a pay