Progress towards closing the gender pay gap has stumbled over the past year, with the gap between men's and women's earnings widening to 12.8% over the year to April 2008 (external website), according to latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published today.

Following last week's surprise 1.5 percentage point cut in interest rates, the Bank of England has hinted at further cuts over the coming months, in its November 2008 Inflation Report (PDF format, 2.85MB) (external website), published today.

The UK labour market is weakening rapidly in response to the global credit crunch, according to a new survey reported on XpertHR today (subscription required).

The research, from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and consultants KPMG, finds that October 2008 saw the sharpest drop in overall demand for temporary and permanent staff since the survey began in October 1997.

How much of a gender pay gap is there in your organisation? Assuming there is some sort of pay differential between men and women in your employ (and few organisations can say otherwise), are you more or less of an equal opportunities employer than other companies?

Which league table has Middlesbrough, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Aston Villa in the top four, Manchester United in mid-table and Chelsea rooted to the bottom?

Once a year, IRS Pay and Benefits Bulletin takes stock of the world of pay bargaining. And as usual, our latest annual overview of pay bargaining trends (subscription required), published to XpertHR last Friday (24 October 2008) has attracted widespread press attention.

Our latest biannual focus on the UK economic outlook (subscription required) for the coming six months has just been published to XpertHR.

The article focuses on predicted trends affecting the measures of particular interest to pay setters, such as inflation, average earnings growth and unemployment.

The median basic pay award stands at 3.5% in the three months to September 2008 (subscription required), unchanged from the previous two rolling quarters, according to latest Industrial Relations Services (IRS) data published today to XpertHR.

City workers are now feeling the pinch as the credit crunch bites. The average salary paid to financial services professionals in the Square Mile has dropped below £50,000 per year, according to new research from recruitment specialists Morgan McKinley (external website).

The report, published in association with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, is based on data from 162 charities and 26,003 individual employees - the largest sample in the survey's 20-year history.

Just two weeks after the October 2008 national minimum wage increases came into effect, attention is already turning to the October 2009 increase. And discussions surrounding the 2009 increase could once more become heated. 

Consumer prices index (CPI) inflation contines to escalate, rising to 5.2% in September 2008, according to latest official figures reported on XpertHR (subscription required) today.

As we noted last week, this raises credibility issues for the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) - whose remit is to ensure that CPI sticks closely to the Government's 2% target rate - following its decision to cut rates while inflation continues to rise.

CELRE's 2008 Housing Association Salary Survey, published today, shows an average basic pay rise of 5.4% for staff in the sector.

The report reveals that senior employees continue to power ahead of those at the bottom of the organisation, with average basic pay increases for chief executives of 9% and for directors of 7.4%. Clerical and care staff averaged rises of 4.6%.

 The headline measure of basic pay awards has held firm at 3.5% in the three months to August 2008, according to the latest Industrial Relations Services data (subscription required), published to XpertHR today.

Salary survey specialists CELRE and the Chartered Management Institute have released an analysis of CELRE's 2008 National Management Salary Survey which shows that employers are making virtually no progress in closing the equal pay gap.

This may be somewhat poor timing as most economics journalists are understandly finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than the meltdown of major financial institutions at present, but the findings make for depressing reading all the same.

The latest national minimum wage (subscription required) increase comes into effect from today, taking the adult rate from £5.52 to £5.73 per hour, an increase of 3.8%.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King will be reaching for the Basildon Bond once again, as he prepares to write another letter to the Chancellor, explaining why inflation continues to exceed the government's target. 

Those still reeling from last week's revelations that UK executive pay is slowing can take some comfort from the fact that times are not quite so hard on the other side of the Atlantic. New research from consultants Mercer finds that US corporate director pay continues to rise, even as the economic downturn bites.