Workplace Report February 2023

Pay and prices

Private sector pay deals reach 8.3%

RPI is down by just under a percentage point at 13.4%%, and is set to decrease further. Meanwhile, unions achieved a median pay rise of 8.3% in the private sector and 7.6% across the economy. Payline, which records actual pay settlements, shows single month earnings growth at 7.6% in December in the economy overall, although a higher than expected public sector figure of 7.2% may be slightly distorted due to a shortage of settlements added over the last months. Meanwhile, average weekly earnings survey data for November 2022 shows a 6.7% rise in regular pay across the economy, the highest it’s been for years (see page 5), with the private sector ahead overall on 7.3% and the public sector lagging way behind on 3.9%.