UK wages grew at the fastest rate seen outside the pandemic period by the end of 2022, according to data that will strengthen the Bank of England’s determination to keep raising interest rates to curb inflation.
Average pay in the three months to November was 6.4 percent higher than a year earlier, including and excluding bonuses, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. Private sector wage growth is even stronger at 7.4 percent, more than 3.3 percent growth in the public sector – a gap that will fuel a bitter stand-off between the government and striking public sector workers.
However, with inflation running at 10.7 per cent in December, average earnings were still 2.6 per cent lower than a year earlier in real terms, marking one of the biggest falls in living standards since similar records began in 2001, the ONS said.
The figures show the labor market remains strong even as the economy has been battered by rising energy prices over the past year, with the jobless rate at 3.7 percent in the three months to November. That was unchanged from the previous month’s reading – although up from 3.5 percent in the previous quarter.
Employment is also unchanged from previous figures, as is the level of economic inactivity, although some older workers who have left the labor market since the start of the pandemic are beginning to look for work again as cost-of-living pressures begin to bite.