Kevin Brown, savings expert at Scottish Friendly, comments on today's Labour market wage growth data:
"Steady wage growth will come as some relief to the Bank of England (BoE), but it hasn't taken the prospect of a rate rise off the table.
"Until last month, it looked as though the BoE might leave rates where they are for the remainder of the year. The escalation in the Middle East has changed that and there is a risk that it leads to a fresh wave of inflation.
“If this leads to workers asking for bigger pay rises, it could stoke inflation and leave rate-setters with little choice but to make borrowing more expensive (1). We don't expect the BoE to move at the next meeting on 30 July. But what happens after that depends largely on how quickly a resolution is found to the Middle East conflict (2).
"For households, who have endured five years of relentless price pressure, a rate rise is a bleak prospect (3). For savers there is at least some consolation, because higher rates should mean better returns on cash. But nothing is guaranteed and anyone whose money is earning less than inflation should shop around for a better rate (4) or ask themselves whether their cash could be working harder for them in the stock market (5)."
(1) Source: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-summary-and-minutes/2026/june-2026
(2) Source: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/upcoming-mpc-dates
(3) Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7g7/mm23