Starbucks becomes the latest high street firm to raise wages
Last week supermarket Lidl said that they will be raising the minimum hourly wage above the Chancellor's new £7.20 limit, due to come in next month.
The average wage will be £7.98 for Starbucks 7500 employees and supervisors already over the minimum will be getting their pay bumped too
Last week Lidl said they would be raising it's minimum to at least £8.20
Wages have been gaining strength and that's going to get a further boost from the new minimum limits. The fact that big firms are starting to raise wages, and above the minimum, is a sure sign of confidence in their businesses and therefore the economy, and many more firms are expected to follow suit
Most firms don't like increasing costs at the best of times and prior minimum wage rises from the government have often been met with warnings of job losses. This time there's more positivity and acceptance and that only means one thing, that companies are more confident or that they are already seeing a vast improvement in income
Wages rises are often a snowball effect and it looks like this one is picking up speed. That will be music to the BOE's ears, especially with the global risks being touted about. Again it shows the two sides of the UK economy and that domestically we're not doing badly
The wage data from the labour report last week was strong and this type of news strengthens my view that we could see more MPC members voting for hikes on the back of it
