Wages fail to keep up with inflation

AVERAGE salaries have increased across the UK, but they’re failing to keep up with inflation.

Full-time employees earn an average of £33,000 before tax in the UK in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

That’s an increase of 5.7% compared to 2021.

However, separate figures show that inflation is at 10.1%, meaning that wages have shrunk in real terms.

Workers in Blackpool earn less than people anywhere else in the country.

The average full-time worker in the seaside town earns £24,571 a year.

That’s an 8.4% increase on the previous year. While it’s above the national average, it’s still behind inflation.

At the other end of the scale is the London borough of Wandsworth.

The average full-time worker there takes home £47,901 a year before tax.

St Albans has the next highest average at £46,551, followed by Richmond upon Thames (£45,448), East Hertfordshire (£45,355) and Westminster (£44,964).

The average London worker earns more than their equivalent in any other part of the country.

The average salary in the capital, before tax, is £39,391 a year.

Meanwhile the average worker in the South West earns £31,726 a year.