Pay rises may be on the cards as pay freezes fall, says Bank of England

Millions of workers whose pay was frozen during the recession could finally get a rise, the Bank of England has suggested.

The bank said it had seen “tentative” signs that pay rises could come back, according to its regular assessment of UK employers, reports the Daily Mail.

Every month, agents for the bank travel the country to speak to employers about their businesses and the challenges they face, and to ask them about their plans for staff pay.

Its latest report said the number of pay freezes had fallen, and the number of pay rises had gone up. It added: “More contacts had made small positive awards in order to reward profitability, to recognise employees’ loyalty or to boost morale.”

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XpertHR will next week publish the first analysis of April 2010 pay deals from IRS – which is expected to show that private sector pay awards remain low despite the cost of living rising at its fastest in nearly two decades, with the retail prices index measure of inflation jumping from 4.4% in March to 5.3% in April.

Despite the rise in inflation, the CBI yesterday called for a two-year pay freeze in the public sector to help the coalition government get public finances under control.