U.K. EARNINGS RISE 7.6 PCT IN YEAR TO JANUARY

  U.K. Average earnings rose a seasonally
  adjusted 7.6 pct in the year to end-January after a 7.4 pct
  rise in the year to December, the Department of Employment
  said.
      The underlying rise was 7.5 pct after 7.75 pct in December.
      The January index, base 1980, was set at a provisional
  seasonally adjusted 190.4, down from 193.4 in December.
      The underlying rise, adjusted for factors such as back-pay
  and timing variations, had been steady at 7.5 pct from October
  1985 to October 1986.
      Unit wage costs in U.K. Manufacturing industry rose 3.3 pct
  in the three months to end January, on a year-on-year basis,
  after a 3.1 pct rise in the three months to end December, the
  Department of Employment said.
      In January, the unit wage rise in manufacturing industries
  was 3.6 pct, unchanged from the December rise.
      The Department said the decline in the underlying rate of
  rise in earnings reflected the reduced significance of bonus
  payments in January compared with December.
      The actual increase reflected teacher pay settlements and
  industrial action in the transport and communications sectors
  in January 1987.
  

