British workers get pay rise of just £1 a week - the worst since records began
British workers get pay rise of just £1 a week - the worst since records began
The average weekly pay for full-time workers went up by just £1 in the year to April to £518, the smallest growth since 1997, new figures have shown, leading to accusations workers are being "shut out" of the economic recovery. Annual increases averaged about 1.4% a year between 2009 and 2014 but the latest figure represents a rise of 0.1%, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Adjusted for inflation, weekly earnings fell by 1.6%, continuing a trend since the recession, to levels last seen in the early 2000s.
Today's bleak figures contrast with signs last week that the UK's six-year pay squeeze was coming to an end.
Matthew Whittaker, chief economist at the Resolution Foundation
The gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.6% to 9.4%, the lowest since records began in 1997, said the ONS. The Government welcomed the reduction but conceded there was more to be done. The data also showed there were 236,000 jobs with pay less than the national minimum wage in April, representing 0.9% of all jobs. About 9,000 of those were held by 16-to-17-year-olds, and 31,000 by 18-to-20-year-olds. The ONS said 196,000 jobs paying less than the statutory minimum were held by employees aged 21 or over.
Ordinary households are not sharing in the recovery and the recession in their wages continues despite the economy's return to growth.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady