Results Summaries

A summary of results from the Decision Maker Panel are published once a quarter by the Bank of England alongside intelligence gathered by the Bank’s network of Regional Agents

Employment growth by firms adjusting workforce in response to NICs increase

While increases in the NLW have supported wage growth, employment has by contrast weakened. Some firms report that they have lowered employment in response to the increase in the NLW, but a larger proportion of firms report reducing employment as a response to changes in employer NICs which came into effect in April 2025. Realised employment growth has remained steady at around 2.1% in the three months to November for firms who report that they did not reduce employee numbers as a response to the NICs increase. In contrast, employment growth has fallen sharply for firms that did select this option, with employment growth declining to -4.5% over the same period

RESULTS FROM THE DECISION MAKER PANEL 2025 Q4