Worker pay lags behind soaring inflation despite wage hikes – ONS
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UK workers saw their pay fall behind sky-high inflation despite another steep hike in earnings as the cost-of-living crisis hit hard, official figures have shown.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said regular pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 5.2% over the three months to July.
But, with Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation taken into account, real pay tumbled by 3.9% year-on-year, according to the ONS.
It comes after CPI inflation jumped to a fresh 40-year high of 10.1% in July as energy and food bills sent living costs racing higher.
The Government’s move to freeze energy bills at £2,500 is set to rein in the peak in inflation, but wages are still unlikely to keep pace with rising costs.
The ONS added that total pay including bonuses lifted by 5.5% for the three-month period, falling by 3.6% with inflation taken into account.
Pressure on wages came as official figures showed that the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 71,000 or 0.2%, between July and August to 29.7 million, the ONS said.
