Median monthly pay for August 2022 was an estimated £2,113, an increase of 6.5% compared with the same period last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The findings highlighted that pay growth tended to fluctuate around 3.6% until it became negative in 2020, coinciding with the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic and related economic difficulties.
Median pay growth was then positive from June 2022, and by August had reached above pre-Coronavirus pandemic levels. Meanwhile, the median pay growth rate fell between March (3%) and May (-1%) 2020, but in August was higher (6%) than the average growth before then.
From May to July 2022, growth in average total pay, including bonuses, was 5.5%, while growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses was 5.2%. Adjusted for inflation, both total and regular pay growth fell in real terms year-on-year, dropping 2.6% and 2.8% respectively.
This was slightly smaller than the fall seen in the previous report, which was a record 3%, but was one of the largest falls in growth since records began in 2001.
The highest employment rate estimate in the UK was in the East of England (78.6%), and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (69.6%) for the three months ending July 2022. The largest increase compared with the same period last year was in Scotland and the West Midlands, both up by 1.1 percentage points, while the largest decrease was in Wales, by 2.4 percentage points.
Jack Kennedy, UK economist at global job site Indeed, said: “The cost-of-living crisis continues to be reflected in a squeeze on real terms pay. Despite historically strong nominal regular pay growth, real wages were down -2.8% on the year, one of the largest falls on record. The squeeze on public sector workers is particularly acute as their regular wages increased by just 2% year-on-year in nominal terms compared with 6% for private sector workers, the largest gap on record outside of the pandemic period.”
Tania Bowers, global public policy director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, added: “With record high levels of over-65s in part-time employment in Q2 this year, it appears that rising energy costs and inflation are driving more people back into work.
“The cost-of-living crisis isn’t, however, inflating salaries, with the ONS revealing that total pay between May and July 2022 when adjusted for inflation fell 2.6%. This disparity between the rise in inflation and salaries won’t support economic growth on the scale that’s needed across the country.”