Chart 20: Ethnicity pay gap Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, sample average  Per cent  15  10  Unaccounted for  5  0  ‐5 Sex  Qualification  Sector  Age  Tenure  Region  Occupation  Public sector  FT/PT  Job type  Total  Accounted for  ‐10  ‐15 Total gap  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey and Bank of England calculations. Note: A positive ethnicity pay gap in this chart indicates that ethnic minorities earn less than their white counterparts, whereas a negative ethnicity pay gap indicates that ethnic minorities earn more than their white counterparts. ‘Job type’ captures if the job is temporary or permanent. Looking over time (Chart 21), the unconditional ethnicity pay gap was broadly stable from the mid-1990s until 2015, since when it has declined. That decline can to a large extent be explained by the rise in the relative educational performance of ethnic minorities which, by the end of the sample, is subtracting 2 percentage points from the pay gap. By contrast, the unexplained ethnicity pay gap has been largely unchanged over the sample. Not only is the unexplained (“pay bias”) part of the ethnicity pay gap as large as for gender; it appears also to have been more persistent and has shown fewer signs of falling over time. The ethnicity pay gap problem in the UK is every bit as acute as the gender pay gap problem, contrary to the message from the raw pay gap data.
Chart 1  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  One of the main reasons is the strong demand for Norwegian goods in countries where economic growth remains robust. The centre of gravity in the world economy is shifting. In the course of the next few decades, China will most likely be the largest economy in the world. Emerging economies – with China at the forefront – are the main driving force behind the increase in demand for crude oil and other commodities. As a result, prices for Norwegian export goods have remained high, even in the context of declining growth among our traditional trading partners. Chart 2  The emergence of newly industrialised economies has also led to lower import prices in Norway. The improvement in Norway’s terms of trade is without parallel in our recent history. We have to go back to the boom period at the time of World War I to find anything similar. Developments in other countries have been less favourable. What started as a banking crisis in the US and the UK has developed into a sovereign debt crisis, with Europe at the epicentre. Austerity measures and economic contraction are now going hand in hand. Social unrest is spreading. Unemployment in many countries has risen to alarming levels. Economic growth is weak, particularly in Europe, constrained by uncertainty and fear of new setbacks. Both the public and private sectors are focusing on reducing debt. Banks are consolidating their balance sheets and holding back on lending to businesses and households.