GOING UP Wages rise for millions of workers – what it means for your money

WAGES are still rising for millions of workers across the UK.

Official figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that pay is still growing at its fastest rate on record.

The figures reveal that regular pay, excluding bonuses, stood at 7.8% in June to August this year.

This is similar to recent periods and one of the highest regular annual growth rates since comparable records began in 2001.

Growth in employees' average total pay, which included bonuses, was 8.1% in June to August, this is affected by the NHS and civil service one-off payments made in June, July and August 2023.

Annual average regular pay growth for the public sector was 6.8% in June to August 2023 and is the highest regular annual growth rate since 2001.

For the private sector this was 8% and one of the largest annual growth rates since the Coronavirus pandemic.

The finance and business services sector saw the largest annual growth rate at 9.6% and this was followed by the manufacturing sector at 8%.

This is one of the highest annual regular growth rates for the manufacturing sector since 2001.

The average weekly earnings for total pay were estimated at around £661 and for regular pay were £619 in August 2023, showing a steady increase.

The annual growth for regular pay was 7.8% (excluding bonuses) in June to August 2023.

The annual growth in employees' average total pay (including bonuses was 8.1% in June to August 2023.

This is one of the largest annual growth rates seen outside of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ONS usually publishes unemployment figures at the same time as wage statistics but they are being published next week.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt said: "It’s good news that inflation is falling and real wages are growing, so people have more money in their pockets. To keep this progress, we must stick to our plan to halve inflation."

What it means for your money

A growth in wages is good news for millions of workers who have been battling against inflation in recent months.

Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, said: "The cooling jobs market appears to be finally feeding through to wage growth, with pay rises easing slightly after a summer of bumper increases.

"Regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose 7.8% on the year in the three months to August – a similar level to the record growth rate achieved in the previous two periods when one-off bonus payments to NHS and civil service staff inflated the figures."

Ms Haines added that while total pay, including bonuses, grew by 8.1% over the same period, slightly down on the 8.5% seen in the previous period this was still "positive news" for households.

She said: "It means incomes are finally gaining in value after being pummelled during the cost of living crisis."