Wages are growing at the fastest rate outside of the pandemic, but are still well below inflation

MADRID, December 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The number of workdays lost due to labor disputes in the UK totaled 417,000 days last October, which was the highest figure since November 2011, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported.

The United Kingdom has been affected by protests by workers from various sectors demanding wage increases in response to rising living costs and this is expected to weigh on activity again in December, with strikes across sectors ranging from the health post service.

Speaking to the BBC, Sam Beckett, the ONS head of economic statistics, explained that the sectors most affected by the strikes were transport and storage, as well as information and communications, “driven in large part by rail and postal strikes”.

Similarly, data from the ONS revealed that salaries, including bonuses, increased in the quarter from August to October by a record 6.1% average over the same period last year, which was the largest increase in the entire History series in the event of a pandemic. period excluded.

Growth in average regular wages for the private sector was 6.9% in the quarter and 2.7% for public sector workers, the largest gains for the private sector in the entire series outside of the pandemic, implying one of the largest recorded growth gaps with respect to public sector.

However, although nominal figures increased, in real terms, namely adjusted for inflation, both total and regular remuneration fell by 2.7%; this is slightly less than the record 3% decline in real regular wages seen between April and June 2022, though still one of the biggest declines since similar records began in 2001.

On the other hand, between August and October, the unemployment rate in the UK increased by a tenth compared to the previous three months, to 3.7%, while the country’s employment rate stood at 75.6% from 75.4%, still below pre-primary levels. -pandemic.

However, according to forecasts for November, it is estimated that the total workforce increased by 107,000 people, reaching a record 29.9 million.