Inflation punctures Brown's rosy glow

In turn, that could upset what has become the central pillar of the economy, and possibly result in consumers facing higher personal debt repayments at the same time taxes increase to pay for higher government spending in the next year or two. Bonuses in the City have significantly boosted national average private sector wage growth, the Office for National Statistics said yesterday. And it wis no small jump: average pay grew by 6.6% in January compared to a rate of 3.4% in December. Although bonuses are a short-term factor, the chancellor himself has noted that unemployment overal...