LONDON, March 12 Reuters The UK arm of German discount supermarket Aldi said on Tuesday it would increase hourly pay for store assistants and deputy store managers outside London to 12.40 pounds 15.86 from 12.00 pounds, starting June 1.

Workers in London will see their pay rise from 13.55 pounds to 13.65 pounds, Aldi said.

This is Aldi39;s second pay raise in Britain this year after hikes in February.

Several food and clothing retailers have raised their minimum rates of staff pay, ahead of an upcoming increase in the government39;s national living wage.

John Lewis raised its rates by 10, supermarket Asda announced an 8.4 pay rise and Marks Spencer a 10.1 increase for around 40,000 store staff.

Wage rises are closely observed by the Bank Of England as it assesses whether the inflationary pressure in the British economy has eased enough for it to cut interest rates from its highest level in 16 years.

1 0.7820 pounds

Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, James Davey and Milla Nissi; Editing by Kate Holton

Source Reuters