UK wages rise at fastest rate outside pandemic period

Average pay up 6.4%

Wages in the UK grew at their fastest rate in over 20 years in the three months to November, but are still not keeping up with inflation.

Figures published today (17 January) from the Office for National Statistics showed that average pay was 6.4% higher. This is the fastest growth since 2002, excluding the pandemic when wages soared as people returned to work from furlough. However, it still failed to beat inflation, which was 10.7% in December, meaning average earnings were 2.6% lower than a year earlier in real terms. This is one of the biggest falls in living standards since records began, according to the ONS. Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot, said the figures "highlight the tri...