Chamber News
Real-terms UK pay fell at fastest rates for 20 years at end of 2022
18 January 2023 • Sarah Medcraf
Average real-terms pay in Britain fell at among the fastest rates for more than two decades at the end of 2022, as public sector pay deals continue to fall behind the private sector during the cost of living crisis.
The Office for National Statistics said wages in real terms declined by 2.6% in the three months to November, among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001.
Without adjusting for inflation, annual growth in regular pay for all workers, excluding bonuses, strengthened to 6.4% over the period. It was the fastest growth since 2001 – excluding the pandemic, when official pay figures were distorted by the furlough scheme – but still well below the current headline inflation rate in the UK of 10.7%.
Wage growth in the private sector, before adjusting for inflation, reached 7.2%, as wages in the public sector continued to trail significantly behind with a growth rate of 3.3%.
Almost half a million working days were lost in November, the highest level since November 2011, as railway workers and Royal Mail postal operatives walked out on strike. The ONS said the number of days lost to strikes since June was the highest in more than 30 years.
