Picture improving for earnings
Official figures for average weekly earnings in April for regular pay (excluding bonuses) in the whole economy show conditions improving. Single month data indicates growth at 7.3%, but that is distorted because it’s compared to April 2020 figures when pay was first impacted by lockdown.
Underlying growth is likely to be less than 5.0%. Construction saw the biggest uplift at 12.5% compared to a year ago, with manufacturing also seeing a decent rise of 6.8%.
LRD Payline data on agreed deals for April shows a flat across-the-board median increase at 2.0% but this is based on very thin data and low because of a number of pay freezes. The data mirrors official figures showing public sector growth has slowed.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours