Wages And Employment On The Rise
Official figures have revealed that weekly earnings including bonuses rose by 1.7 per cent in the three months to February, outstripping inflation and halting the five-year squeeze on living standards.
Official figures have revealed that weekly earnings including bonuses rose by 1.7 per cent in the three months to February, outstripping inflation and halting the five-year squeeze on living standards.
The UK inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), fell to 1.6 per cent in March, down from February’s 1.7 per cent. This is the third consecutive month the rate has fallen below the Bank of England’s target of 2 per cent and takes the rate to a four-year low.
New research suggests that wages could rise by more than inflation for the first time in almost six years this month and that the UK economy will see “decent but unspectacular” growth this year.
More than 600,000 people have changed their current account provider in the first six months of a scheme designed to make switching banks easier, a rise of 14 per cent on the same period a year ago.
The UK’s trade deficit narrowed more than expected in February, helped by a fall in imports, mainly in aircraft and aircraft parts, which fell 46.3 per cent, contributing to three-quarters of the total fall in imports in the month.
A new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that UK economic growth will reach 2.9 per cent in 2014 and says that the country will be the fastest-growing in the G7 group of nations this year.
The UK services sector exports rose to an all-time high in the first quarter of this year according to the latest Quarterly Economic Survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
Today (April 7) is the first working day of the new tax year 2014-15 and with it comes a number of changes to taxes, pensions, savings and the financial environment generally.
Pensioners over the age of 61 will be able to get higher pensions by topping up their payments by up to £25 a week from the autumn of 2015 under new Government plans.
With the new tax year ending this weekend (April 5), there are a number of important allowances and tax reliefs that will be lost if people do not use them now, although others can be carried over to the 2014-15 tax year.
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