Official ASHE earnings figures go up in smoke

The Office of National Statistics has admitted to errors in the 2005 Annual survey of hours and earnings (ASHE), published last month.

As a result, some of the figures quoted in the last issue of Workplace Report are incorrect. Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in April 2005 were in fact £431,20, not £431.30, although this still represents a 2.8% increase on a year earlier.

The mean (average) gap in hourly pay between male and female full-time employees in April 2005 was 17.1%, and the average increase in weekly earnings over the previous 12 months was 4.3% for the top 10% of earners and 2.1% for the bottom 10%.

The table of median weekly earnings by region has also been revised: most rates have changed by £1.50 or less, but the median in Scotland has been increased by £9.60 to £409.60.

The corrected figures are available at www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ashe1105.pdf