Average pay deal in Britain worth just 2%, data shows

Median basic pay rose 2% in three months to end of October, unchanged for seventh month in a row

The average pay deal across the UK is worth just 2%, despite a rise in prices that pushed the retail prices index (RPI) - a widely used measure of inflation in pay bargaining - to 6% this month.

According to the latest figures from the consultancy XpertHR, pay bargaining across some of Britain's biggest private and public sector employers showed median basic pay increased 2% in the three months to the end of October, unchanged for the seventh consecutive month.