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NHS pay review body: twenty-sixth report 2012 - Official Documents

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3.15 The OBR forecast in November 2011 that employment levels will be broadly unchanged<br />

between 2011 and <strong>2012</strong> but will gradually pick up from <strong>2012</strong>. In line with a weaker<br />

outlook for GDP growth, the OBR revised up its projected level of unemployment from<br />

2.5 million to 2.8 million in <strong>2012</strong>. The unemployment rate was expected to rise, rather<br />

than fall, in <strong>2012</strong>. Between the start of 2011 and the start of 2017, the OBR expected<br />

total employment to increase by around 1 million. Within this, private sector employment<br />

was expected to increase by around 1.7 million, offsetting a total reduction in general<br />

government employment of around 710,000.<br />

Average Earnings Growth and Pay Settlements<br />

3.16 Private sector average earnings growth remained modest throughout 2011, at 2.0% in<br />

the three months to November 2011. Public sector average earnings growth (excluding<br />

the nationalised banks) was at 1.4% in the three months to November 2011 (see Figure<br />

3.10).<br />

Figure 3.10: Average weekly earnings (total <strong>pay</strong>), three-month average,<br />

2006 to 2011<br />

% annual growth<br />

8<br />

6<br />

4<br />

2<br />

0<br />

-2<br />

-4<br />

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011<br />

Whole economy<br />

Private sector<br />

Source: Office for National Statistics.<br />

Public sector<br />

Public sector ex financial services<br />

3.17 The OBR revised down its forecast for earnings growth in November 2011, in line with<br />

higher expected unemployment and lower productivity growth8 . It expected wage<br />

growth of around 2% in <strong>2012</strong>, picking up gradually to 4.5% from the second half of<br />

2014. Adjusted for inflation, this implied negative real wage growth until the start of<br />

2013. The Treasury’s average of independent forecasts expected slightly higher average<br />

earnings growth of 2.4% in <strong>2012</strong>9 .<br />

3.18 The median <strong>pay</strong> settlement level was stable at around 2.5% throughout 2011, up slightly<br />

from 2.0% in 2010, on the Incomes Data Services (IDS) measure (see Figure 3.11).<br />

Pay settlement levels were below inflation throughout 2010 and 2011. According to<br />

settlements monitored by IDS, only 8% of private sector <strong>pay</strong> settlements in 2011 had<br />

8<br />

Office for Budgetary Responsibility, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, November 2011. Available at: http://cdn.<br />

budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/Autumn2011EFO_web_version138469072346.pdf.<br />

9<br />

HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK Economy: A Comparison of Independent Forecasts, January <strong>2012</strong>. Available at: http://<br />

www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/<strong>2012</strong>01forecomp.pdf.<br />

27

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