The agenda: Falling real pay and Tesco sales growth returns
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
The Brexit-related squeeze in living standards is on, official figures on wage growth are expected to show at 9.30am.
Pay growth including bonuses is expected to slow to 2.2% in the three months to February, from 2.4% previously. Regular pay growth, excluding bonuses is expected to come in at 2.1%.
Either way, that would be below February’s inflation rate of 2.3%, signalling a return to falling real pay for UK workers who are just about recovering living standards after the blow dealt by the financial crisis.
After the 2008 crash, inflation outpaced pay growth for six years.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics are also expected to show the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7%. We’ll bring you all the details and reaction.
In the corporate world, the big news this morning is from Tesco. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain has achieved its first year of sales growth in seven years, with profits back above £1bn.
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