ECONOMIC BACKGROUND

Below we print a snapshot of the economic background taken from UNISON’s monthly Bargaining brief. This can be found at : http://www.unison.org.uk/bargaining

In the year to December, RPI annual inflation was 4.8%, up from 4.7% in November. Average earnings growth including bonuses remained unchanged in the year to November 2010, from the October 2010 rate of 2.1%.

Growth in average earnings excluding bonuses (regular pay) also remained unchanged in November 2010 from the October 2010 rate of 2.3%.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (the claimant count) fell by 4,100 between November and December 2010 to reach 1.46 million, although the number of people claiming for up to six months increased by 7,200 to reach 960,300. IRS predict that average earnings growth to increase through the course of the year, from 1.9% in the first quarter to 2.5% in the final quarter of 2011.