REAL terms pay has fallen by almost 3% as wages fail to stay pace with rising inflation, according to the latest data.
Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal the growth in employees’ average total pay including bonuses was 6.2%.
Real terms pay has fallen by almost 3% as wages failed to stay pace with rising inflation
Wages not including bonuses grew by 4.3% in the three months to May.
But in real terms, taking into account inflation, pay fell by 2.8% – a record drop.
Average total pay growth in the private sector was 7.2% in March to May 2022. For the public sector it was 1.5%.
It comes as inflation reached 9.1% earlier this year as fuel, food and other costs rise.
In good news, the number of job vacancies rose between April and June to 1,294,000.
Employment stood at 75.9% for those aged between 16 to 64 and unemployment for the same age category was 3.8%.
David Freeman, ONS head of labour market and household statistics, said the figures showed a “mixed picture” for the labour market and offered a stark message on people’s pay.
He said: “The number of people in employment remains below pre-pandemic levels and, while the number of people neither working nor looking for a job is now falling, it remains well up on where it was before Covid-19 struck.”
He added: “Following recent increases in inflation, pay is now clearly falling in real terms both including and excluding bonuses.
“Excluding bonuses, real pay is now dropping faster than at any time since records began in 2001.”
Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in April, with struggling households told worse was still to come.
The Bank of England has warned the figure could reach 11% this year.
Inflation is a measure of how the price of goods and services have changed over the past year.
So the higher the figure, the more you’ll pay for your food and fuel.
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