Britain advised to hike minimum wage above inflation

[steve2470]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/uk-britain-economy-pay-idUKBREA1P1AI20140226

(Reuters) - Britain's minimum wage should increase by more than the rate of inflation for the first time in more than five years, government advisors recommended, helping low earners regain a little of the ground they have lost to a rising cost of living.

Britain's Low Pay Commission (LPC) has proposed a 3 percent increase in Britain's minimum wage, which would be the first above-inflation increase since 2008, the government said on Wednesday. The government usually accepts the commission's recommendations.

The rise would take effect in October - around six months before the next general election, in 2015. Living standards are likely to be a key issue as Britain's economic recovery gains traction.

Inflation fell to 1.9 percent in January, undershooting the Bank of England's 2.0 percent target for the first time since November 2009. But in the intervening four years, it averaged 3.3 percent, eroding the value of incomes across the economy. During that same period, the minimum wage rose an average of just 1.9 percent a year.