UK households income rising more quickly

London - British households saw their income from employment rise at the quickest pace in more than a year in August, according to a survey on Wednesday likely to be noticed by the Bank of England.

The boost in earnings helped push the overall monthly Household Finance Index, compiled by financial data firm Markit, to 42.6 last month, its second-highest reading since the survey was launched in 2009.

The survey result, based on responses from about 1 500 people, suggested an easing in the squeeze on household budgets.

Salaries grew in both the public and private sectors for the first time since May, but although the growth in income from employment was the joint fastest on record, it remained moderate overall, Markit said.

The Bank of England has put wage growth, which has been weaker than inflation for most of the time since the financial crisis, at the centre of its discussions on when to raise record-low interest rates.

Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Markit, said incomes were showing "tentative signs of life".

"With the Bank of England now forecasting a return to real wage growth by the middle of next year, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel," he said in a statement.