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mpc: 8 A30 Inactivity had fallen by 17,000 during this period compared to the previous three months, due mainly to a decline in the number of people who wanted a job, but were either not seeking or not available to start. This reversed the pattern of the previous two quarters. A31 Earnings growth had increased in most sectors. Whole-economy headline earnings growth had risen 0.2 percentage points to 4.9% in the year to October. Headline earnings growth in the private sector had risen 0.3 percentage points to 5.1%, while public sector growth had been unchanged at 3.9%. Earnings growth in both manufacturing and services was also higher. However, the Reward index had again grown by only 3.5% in November. A32 Wages and salaries per head, calculated from the National Accounts, had grown by 4.7% in Q3, the same rate as the Average Earnings Index. Following revisions, growth in unit wage costs had been falling since a peak in 1998 Q4. The FRES/REC survey had indicated that earnings growth for permanent staff supplied by agencies had remained broadly flat in December, while earnings growth for temporary/contract staff had fallen slightly. A33 There was little new information on settlements, as was typical of this time of year. The Bank's AEI-weighted twelve-month mean had fallen 0.1 percentage point to 3.4% in November. Public sector and private sector settlement means had both fallen slightly.

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Prices

A34 Commodity prices had risen in the last month. The Bank oil-inclusive commodity price index had risen by 2.9% in November, more than recovering the fall in October, and taking the annual inflation rate to 16.8%, its highest since this series began in 1990. Most of the increase was accounted for by the rise in the price of crude oil. While the prices of `hard' commodities (fuels and metals) had been rising month-on-month for some time, the prices of `soft' commodities (mainly food) also rose in November. This meant that the Bank oil-exclusive index, which had been broadly flat since the end of 1998, had also risen in November. Oil prices rose only slightly in December but were around 150% higher than a year earlier. There was no evidence to suggest that these price rises were linked to pre-millennium stockpiling, as inventories did not appear to be abnormally high.