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18 January 2022

UK wages fall below 2008 level

Real earnings are now lower than on the eve of the financial crisis.

By Afiq Fitri

Weekly wages in the UK are now £3 lower than on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis, according to a Trade Union Congress (TUC) analysis of the latest employment figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today.

The TUC found that real weekly wages had fallen from £553 in 2008 to £550 in November last year, based on calculations using the current consumer price inflation rate. This comes as inflation is widely expected to increase from 5.1 per cent to 6 per cent in the spring, coupled with soaring energy bills this year.  

 

The finance and business services sector saw the largest growth in salaries at 6.8 per cent, while public sector wages increased by just 2.6 per cent.  

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This article appears in the 26 Jan 2022 issue of the New Statesman, The Light that Failed

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