Workplace Report March 2021

Pay and prices

Ambiguous earnings growth continues

Official figures for average weekly earnings in December 2020 for regular pay (excluding bonuses) in the whole economy grew by a healthy 4.5%.

However, this growth came before the UK went into full lockdown for a second time and may still be driven by a fall in the number and proportion of lower-paid employee jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. Underlying growth is likely to be under 3%. Manufacturing and construction show the smallest increases.

LRD Payline data on agreed deals is for January. It shows an across the board median increase of 2.1% for November to January (2.5% over the 12 months), but this is still based on very thin data. The biggest growth has largely been in public sector pay and services.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours

www.lrd.org.uk/index.php?pagid=18