FT article on rising disposable incomes

IveSeenTheLight

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/461d316c-f0fe-11e0-bad9-00144feab49a.html#axzz1aNTdFF7u

<H1>Aberdeen has fastest rise in disposable incomes

By Andrew Bolger, Scotland Correspondent



The rising price of oil allowed Aberdeen to enjoy the fastest increase in gross disposable incomes of any UK city during the past five years, according to UHY Hacker Young, an accounting group.
Its research shows Glasgow and Dundee were also in the five locations with the highest increase in gross disposable household income, partly because Scotland suffered a much smaller fall in householder employment rates in this period than the rest of the UK.
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Disposable household income jumped 24.7 per cent in Aberdeen from £13,669 in 2004 to £17,039 at the end of 2009, the latest statistics available. London came second with a 22 per cent rise from £16,096 in 2004 to £19,658 in 2009.
During the same period, Glasgow and Dundee – which came fourth and fifth in the rankings – saw their gross disposable household income increase 20.6 per cent, to £13,571 and £14,316 respectively. Stoke came third with a rise of 21.1 per cent to £12,097.
UHY Hacker Young said household incomes in Aberdeen had been boosted by a booming oil industry. As the oil capital of Europe, Aberdeen enjoyed the benefits of rising prices, which had brought increased investment in the North Sea.
Aberdeen is the headquarters of some of the world’s leading oil and gas service companies, which benefited from increased exploration work across the world. Although pay rises during the past five years across the UK have been relatively modest, disposable income has been boosted by a fall in mortgage payments as the Bank of England slashed the base rate to 0.5 per cent.
Marc Waterman, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said London had been seen as streets ahead of all other towns and cities for growth in disposable household income, but these figures showed the gap was closing. “Although London still has the greatest disposable income in the UK, Aberdeen is catching up fast,” he said.
“If oil prices remain at their current rate of over $90 a barrel, this momentum is likely to continue.”
Mr Waterman said although disposable incomes in Dundee and Glasgow had come from a low base, their growth had been very rapid, aided by their low housing costs and because they avoided the worst of a jump in unemployment.
However, he said: “With more public sector budget cuts on the way, growth in disposable income may moderate or reverse for some towns that are heavily dependent on public sector employment.”
Gross disposable household income is the amount of money that individuals have available to spend after expenditure associated with income, such as taxes, property costs, pension payments and social contributions.

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HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Excellent article.

But it would be interesting to see their definition of "disposable" income as that looks really low to me.

geneer

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Excellent article.

But it would be interesting to see their definition of "disposable" income as that looks really low to me.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Psychologists would have a fieldday with you Hamish......if you weren't so textbook.