💸Wages on the up but still lagging inflation

ECONOMY
Wages on the up but still lagging inflation

What’s going on?
The latest jobs market report from the Office for National Statistics revealed that although average wages (excluding bonuses) grew by almost 4% in the final quarter of 2021, it was less than the inflation rate of 5.4% meaning in real terms pay has gone down. 

Why is this important?

The UK labour market has been heating up since last year with unemployment running at 4.1% - the lowest rate since Covid hit – and vacancies at a record high of 1.3m – illustrating just how much demand for workers is outstripping supply.

This has fed into wage growth as employers compete to retain and attract skilled workers. But for the average worker pay has fallen behind inflation however some sectors are seeing real pay increases. Workers in industries such as science, finance and insurance are seeing wage rises of over 7%.

So what’s driving the squeeze in labour supply? In the last two years the jobs market has undergone a huge change. Brexit led to many European workers returning home and the pandemic led to the so-called “Great Resignation” as people reassessed their jobs and lives. 

The ONS figures showed that there are now 400,000 fewer people – mostly in their 50s - in the workforce compared to before the pandemic that is, people who aren’t working and are not looking for work. 
 

FINTECH
London fintech startup bags $20m US investment

Yesterday British fintech Banked announced it had raised $20m in a funding round led by Wall Street giant Bank of America.

Founded in 2018 Banked is disrupting the digital payment industry. It provides software where users can pay for things online directly from their bank account without using a credit or debit card. There’s no need to create a separate account or share financial details and payment authorisations are biometric. All this makes fraud virtually impossible.

Banked, which counts British Airways as a client, offers a 0.1% processing fee with every transaction, considerably lower than its competitors. For shoppers, it offers perks such as instant refunds and Avios points at checkout.

The market for account-to-account payments is growing and estimated to reach $43bn by 2026 in Europe alone.

To date the company has raised $30m and the investment from Bank of America is a sign that the startup is now looking to a US expansion.