LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The British arm of German discount supermarket Aldi will raise pay for over 28,000 hourly paid workers by 2.5% from March, it said on Tuesday, taking the year-on-year increase to an above-inflation 4.7%.
The Bank of England is monitoring wage settlements as it assesses whether inflation pressures will allow it to lower interest rates further.
Britain's official headline rate of inflation eased to 3.2% in November.
Aldi UK, Britain's fourth-largest grocer after Tesco TSCO.L, Sainsbury's SBRY.L and Asda, said from March 1 the starting pay for store assistants will rise to 13.35 pounds ($17.97) an hour from the 13.02 pounds set in September and the 12.75 pounds that was being paid in March last year.
Workers in London will receive higher rates.
Aldi UK, which unlike other supermarket groups offers paid breaks to store workers, said it was also extending maternity pay to 26 weeks at full pay.
Britain's government-mandated main minimum wage will rise by 4.1% to 12.71 pounds an hour in April, despite complaints from some employers that this will push up prices.
A survey of recruiters published on Monday showed Britain's jobs market cooled in December but starting salaries for permanent jobs rose at a faster pace.
($1 = 0.7428 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Barbara Lewis)
((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com))
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