Record fall in wages as inf lation soars

BRITISH workers suffered the biggest drop in pay on record in the past year, as the cost of living crunch intensified.

Pay excluding bonuses fell 2.8 per cent between March and May compared with 2021 levels, after adjusting for soaring inflation, the Office for National Statistics said. however, the number of people in work jumped 296,000. Unemployment stayed low at 3.8 per cent, and the numbers in full-time work hit a record high. Vacancies rose to nearly 1.3 million between April and June.

David Freeman, at the ONS, said the data painted a ‘mixed picture’ for the UK jobs market, although demand for labour was ‘clearly still very high’.

HOWEVER, sliding pay in the face of strong demand for workers caused concern among analysts. Jake Finney, at accountants PwC, said the average UK worker had seen ‘little upward movement in their pay for almost 14 years’.

Business groups warned the high level of vacancies was ‘piling further pressure’ on companies suffering from soaring inflation and supply chain disruption.

Jane Gratton, at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘The problems in the labour market are restricting growth and choking off any hope of a recovery for many firms.’