WAGE growth in Britain has fallen back further amid mounting signs of a weakening jobs market, official data revealed today.
While earnings are outstripping inflation, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average regular wage growth dropped to 5.7 per cent in the three months to May.
This is down from 6 per cent in the previous three months and the lowest level since the quarter to September 2022.
It also flagged further signals that the employment sector is cooling, with 30,000 fewer vacancies at 889,000 in the quarter to June, led by retail and hospitality.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that though real wages are still rising, they are still worth less than in 2008 and rates of pay growth have started to slow.
“Rising unemployment remains a real concern — and economic inactivity remains close to record levels,” he said.
“The country is crying out for the strong economic growth that will start to reverse the Conservatives’ living standards failures.”
Mr Nowak said that Labour’s election victory is a “much-needed chance to turn the page.”
“The government’s plans to grow the economy and make work pay can raise living standards for families right across the country,” he added.
“Ministers must quickly start to deliver on their commitments to ensure that young unemployed people and those facing long-term disability and illness are not written off.
“There is much the new government can do to improve support — particularly by bringing down NHS waiting lists and delivering a young person’s guarantee.
“Ensuring day one access to sick pay will also help more people to stay in work.”
Scottish Labour’s economy spokesman Daniel Johnson said the Scottish government “has taken Tory economic chaos and amplified it,” urging the SNP to “grow our stagnating economy, support people into work, and develop a skills system that is truly fit for purpose.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall blasted the figures as “truly dire,” pointing to the 9.4 million people classed as economically inactive.
She said Britain was “standing alone as the only G7 country where the employment rate is still not back to pre-pandemic levels.”
“This is a truly dire inheritance which the government is determined to tackle,” Ms Kendall said.
