UK employment surges – but wages lag behind inflation
…and rural places have the lowest workplace wages…
Unemployment fell to a five-year low in April but Britain’s workers were squeezed by a dramatic slowdown in pay growth, according to official figures.
A record rise in the number of people in work saw the jobless rate drop to 6.6% in the three months to April, reaching a level last seen in January 2009.
George Osborne hailed the progress as an important step towards the goal of full employment, while the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said: “Britain is bouncing back.”
But the Labour party and trade unions pointed to a fall in workers’ standard of living, as the figures also showed that pay growth fell to 0.7%, sharply down from 1.7% the month before and well below inflation, running at 1.8%.