United Kingdom Wage Growth

Average weekly earnings including bonuses in the UK increased 5.6% year-on-year to GBP 672/week in the three months to January 2024, the least since July 2022, compared to 5.8% in the previous period and forecasts of 5.7%. Wage growth slowed in both the public sector (5.8% vs 6%) and the private sector (5.7% vs 5.9%). Meanwhile, regular pay which excludes bonus payment, went up 6.1% to GBP 627/week, the lowest growth since October 2022, below a 6.2% rise in the previous period and expectations of 6.2%. Both the services sector and the wholesaling, retailing, hotels and restaurants sector saw the largest annual regular growth rate at 5.8%; followed by the finance and business services sector (5.7%) and manufacturing (5.6%). Adjusted for inflation, wage growth in real terms was steady at 1.4% for total pay including bonuses and 1.8% for regular pay excluding bonuses.