Pay rise for frontline workers

Get straight to the good stuff with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Public sector pay rise

Almost 1 million frontline public sector workers will get an above-inflation pay rise to recognise their essential work during the pandemic. Teachers get the biggest boost at 3.1%, and doctors and dentists will get 2.8%. It’s the biggest pay rise for a long time - public sector wages were frozen in 2010 under austerity, and increases were capped at 1% until 2018.

Adviser comment: "We recommend you save as much as possible from above-inflation pay rises. Micro-savings accounts linked to your spending is a great way to achieve this."

Government's still borrowing

The UK borrowed £35.5 billion in June to pay for coronavirus support measures. It’s five times higher than a typical June, but less than we borrowed in May, as some businesses reopened meaning fewer workers on furlough and more people paying taxes. Plus, it turns out the government actually borrowed less in May than was previously estimated, because the tax take ended up higher.

Hermes is hiring

Hermes has said it’s hiring 10,500 extra staff to meet a surge in demand thanks to the online shopping boom. The delivery company already has over 15,000 freelance couriers in the UK and wants even more, and has said that self-employed workers also get holiday pay.

V-shaped recovery?

In the early days of the pandemic, there was a lot of hopeful talk about a rapid “V-shaped” economic recovery. Many experts have since given up on this - but not Antony Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England. He clashed with colleagues on Monday when he insisted we’re in a V, and claimed the UK economy has already recovered about half of the massive fall that we saw in March and April.