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mpc: 10 was significantly lower than a year earlier. A43 According to the Bank's settlements database, the twelve-month AEI-weighted mean settlement had remained unchanged at 3.3% in November. The Bank had so far received information on 40 agreements effective in November, covering 130,000 employees. A44 Annual growth in productivity, on the official National Statistics measure, based on Workforce Jobs, had declined by 0.2 percentage points to 1.3% in Q3. On a total hours basis, productivity had increased by 0.9% per hour on a year earlier. Annual growth in unit wage costs had fallen by 0.7 percentage points to 3.1% in the year to Q3.

V

Prices

A45 The Bank's sterling commodity price index had fallen by 0.7% in November. Further falls in oil prices had outweighed increases in the prices of domestic food and gas. The annual change in the index had fallen for the sixth consecutive month in November to -11.9%, the lowest rate since October 1998. A46 Oil prices had been quite volatile in December. Average sterling oil prices had been around 2.5% lower in December than their average level in November, and approximately 25% lower than a year earlier, but spot prices were around 4% higher than at the time of the December MPC meeting. A47 Manufacturers' input prices had fallen by 1.0% in November. This had mainly reflected further falls in the prices of crude petroleum products and of several imported components. Annual input price inflation had fallen for the seventh consecutive month to -11.1% in November, from -9.1% in October, the lowest annual rate since April 1997. Looking ahead, the CIPS manufacturing survey had indicated that input prices had fallen further in December, albeit at a slightly slower rate: the CIPS input price index had risen slightly to 40.9 in December from 40.4 in November, but had remained significantly below the 50 no-change level. A48 Manufacturers' output prices excluding duties (PPIY) had fallen by 0.1% in November. The annual inflation rate had fallen to -0.2%, the lowest rate since June 1999. The annual inflation rate of total output prices had fallen again in November to -1.0%, the lowest since the comparable series