ONS latest | Wages up, unemployment static & other key takeaways from new labour market stats

According to the latest statistics from the ONS, regular pay has grown at the fastest rate in more than 20 years. However, it is still failing to keep up with inflation, which is at 10.5%.

Pay, excluding bonuses, increased at an annual pace of 6.7% between October and December 2022, which was the strongest growth seen outside of the pandemic.

However, when adjusted for inflation, regular pay fell by 2.5% and the UK's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7%.

Gaps between earnings and outgoings persist

Greg Guilford, CEO of HR Solutions, part of WorkNest, said that while it was positive to see that employers are minimising the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on employees, there is still a gap between the rising costs and employees’ salaries.