What Recovery? Your Wages Are Still Falling, Official Figures Show
Here's Why You're Still Getting Poorer...
Asa Bennett— The Huffington Post UK
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Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne holds freshly minted coins during a visit to the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales on March 25, 2014. In events surrounding the Chancellor's recent budget, a new design was revealed for a 12-sided one pound coin, designed to be much harder to fake and based on the pre-decimal 'threepenny bit' three pence piece. AFP PHOTO/POOL/Matthew Horwood (Photo credit should read MATTHEW HORWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)
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Britain's economy continues to grow as more people are in work, but the wellbeing is undercut by the fact that Britons' wages are still falling in real terms, according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics revealed that wages are still being eaten away by inflation as pay exclduing bonuses grew by just 0.7%, the lowest on record, in the last year. "This reflects low pay growth across a wide range of industrial sectors," the statistics body concluded.
The ONS chart show inflation is still eating away at your pay packet
Labour's shadow employment minister Stephen Timms MP said: "The new figures have shown working people are seeing their pay falling far behind the cost of living. Pay excluding bonuses today is the lowest on record."
"The squeeze on households’ purchasing power has eased modestly although it remains appreciable," said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.
"We expect earnings growth to gradually trend up over the coming months, with the gains accelerating as 2015 progresses - as sustained decent economic growth, easing slack in the labour market and optimism in the outlook causes a growing number of employers to lift pay."
10 Facts George Osborne Wants You To Ignore Now The Great Depression Nears An End
Are we really better off than we were six years ago? (01 of10)
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The ONS says that GDP per capita, which gives a sense of individual wealth, was still 5.1% below its pre-crisis peak by the end of 2012. (credit:Christopher Furlong via Getty Images)
We're better off... due to drugs and prostitutes(02 of10)
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The ONS has now factored in spending on drugs and prostitutes into its calculations, estimating that it is worth 0.5% of GDP."The vast majority of illegal drugs that households consume are assumed to be imported from overseas," it adds. Labour have seized on this, with shadow chief secretary Chris Leslie saying “these accounting changes to the way GDP is measured do not mean families or businesses are better off." (credit:Jan Sochor/CON via Getty Images)
This is still the slowest recovery on record(03 of10)
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The ONS still say that the recovery has been the slowest since its records begam, with chief economist Joe Grice describing it as "unusually slow". Meanwhile, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research suggest that it has been the slowest recovery in 100 years. (credit:NIESR )
And the deepest recession on record(04 of10)
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ONS chief economist Joe Grice said: "It remains the case that the UK experienced the deepest recession since ONS records began in 1948" (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
We're still not very productive (05 of10)
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The ONS states: "The headline story of weak productivity remains, and the latest GDP growth revisions do not offer a solution to the ‘productivity conundrum’." Economic productivity was still 2.5% below its pre-crisis peak in the last quarter of 2012, the statistics body said.
Your pay will not have fallen this far since Disraeli(06 of10)
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Britons' wages will by next May never have shrunk so far over the course of a single term of parliament in real terms since the Victorian era, according to research by the House of Commons Library. The last time average earnings, accounting for inflation, slid by a greater amount was from 1874-1880, when Benjamin Disraeli was prime minister. (credit:Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)
Your pay won't be back to normal for years either(07 of10)
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Inflation is still eating at your pay packet, which means you're getting poorer in real terms, and it will take a while before it not just starts to improve, but returns to pre-recession levels. Your pay packet is still continuing to fall by more than in any prior recovery and is down 8% since May 2010, experts warn.
Osborne will still struggle to get Britain exporting (08 of10)
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The ONS warned: "The contribution of net trade is unchanged and remains weak."Despite Osborne warning in his Budget that he wants businesses to export more, the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government's forecaster, predicts that the UK's exports will still fail to make a net contribution to the country's growth. It said: "Net trade is expected to make little contribution to growth over the remainder of the forecast period, reflecting the weakness of export market growth and a gradual decline in export market share."
Osborne's early actions as chancellor are not viewed much more positively, with the ONS saying: "The early part of the recovery path is broadly unchanged, but stronger growth now prevails through 2011 and 2012." (credit:Oli Scarff via Getty Images)
If you deflate UK wage growth with house prices then in the year to July real wages fell by 11% Even worse for first time buyers..
Meanwhile, chancellor George Osborne seized on new positive jobs figures as "another step towards full employment."
Unemployment fell by 146,000 between May and July to 2.02 million, while the number in work rose by 774,000 over the last year, the ONS revealed. This resulted in a lower-than-expected unemployment rate of 6.2%.
The claimant count fell for the 22nd month in a row in July by 37,200 to 966,500, marking the first time the figure has been below one million since September 2008.
The chancellor also used the fall in unemployment in Scotland to argue that Scots should reject independence in tomorrow's referendum. "Scotland doing well as part of UK," he wrote.
This comes as newly published minutes from the Bank of England showed that interest rate setters were again split 7-2 in favour of keeping interest rates at their 0.5%, with Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty once more backing an immediate rate rise.
The American electorate may have gone off their president after five and a half years in office but Barack Obama still enjoys 2008 levels of popularity in the UK. People from the No Campaign probably fainted when Obama said "the key word is 'united'" when asked about Scotland. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Yes: Sir Sean Connery(02 of12)
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Austin Powers may be against independence but James Bond isn't. Sir Sean has told his fellow Scots that independence "is too good an opportunity to miss". He also said the potential boosts to the film and creative industries are "particularly exciting". (credit:Danny Lawson/PA Archive)
No: Hillary Clinton (03 of12)
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"I would hate to have you lose Scotland," the potential next American president told Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight. "I hope that it doesn't happen but I don't have a vote in Scotland. But I would hope it doesn't happen." She added: "I would think it would be a loss for both sides but, again, I don't have a vote." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Yes: Brian Cox (Not That One)(04 of12)
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The face of BBC science has not declared for or against Scottish independence but his namesake, actor Brian Cox is firmly in favour of it.He has provided the voice of Duggy Dog, an animated Highland Terrier created by the Yes campaign who aims to "sniff out fact from fiction" in the independence debate. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
No: David Bowie(05 of12)
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Since dabbling in right-wing politics in the 1970s, Bowie's views appear to have mulled somewhat.When Kate Moss collected his BRIT award earlier this year, she read a statement on behalf that asked Scotland to "stay with us".The statement said: "In Japanese myth the rabbits from my old costume that Kate's wearing live on the moon. Kate comes from Venus and I from Mars, so that's nice. I'm completely delighted to have a Brit for being the best male, but I am, aren't I Kate? I think it's a great way to end the day. Thank you very, very much and Scotland - stay with us." (credit:Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
Yes: Alan Cumming(06 of12)
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This Scot is firmly pro-independence. So much so, the New York-based actor bought a flat in Edinburgh last year so he would be able to vote in September's referendum. Unfortunately, it was deemed not to be his "main address" and, by extension, he will not be able to vote. (credit:Andy Kropa /Invision/AP)
No: JK Rowling(07 of12)
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JK Rowling, who wrote her first Harry Potter book while living in Edinburgh and still lives in the Scottish capital, has given £1 million to defeat Alex Salmond.She wrote she was "no fan of the Westminster government".She added: "The simple truth is that Scotland is subject to the same 21st century pressures as the rest of the world. The more I listen to the Yes campaign, the more I worry about its minimisation and even denial of risks."A Twitter account digested this and reflected: "What a #bitch after we gave her shelter in our city when she was a single mum." (credit:Ian West/PA Wire)
Yes: Billy Bragg(08 of12)
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Always outspoken, Bragg's take on Scottish independence is that it would be as good for his native England as it would for north of the border. The left-winger said: "Scottish independence throws up the possibility of a more progressive England. We won’t be British any more, we’ll be English." (credit:Jonathan Short/Invision/AP)
No: The BBC, According To Protestors(09 of12)
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On Sunday, 2,000 people gathered outside BBC Scotland's Glasgow headquarters to protest what they saw as its pro-union stance.A couple who attended the protest said: "The BBC is paid for by all of us whether Yes or No but it doesn’t reflect both sides of the campaign. They don't cover stories that damage No, but are always headlining stories against Yes." (credit:Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
No...ish: Pope Francis(10 of12)
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Pope Francis voiced concerns about Scottish independence - but his comments were non-commital to the point where both the yes and no camps welcomed them.Speaking about secession movements across the world, the infallable representative of God on earth said countries breaking away from larger states should be considered on a "case-by-case basis".He acknowledged the case was "clear" in in some cases but listed Scotland as one of the cases where "I ask myself it is so clear".He said: "Let's think of the former Yugoslavia. Obviously, there are nations with cultures so different that couldn't even be stuck together with glue."The Yugoslavian case is very clear, but I ask myself if it is so clear in other cases - Scotland, Padania, Catalunya."No campaigners said the Pope was "right to warn about the impact of division" while No campaigners said: "As His Holiness says, these matters should be looked at on a case-by-case basis." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Yes: Glasgow's Sunday Herald(11 of12)
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The Sunday Herald became the first Scottish paper to back the yes campaign in May with this front cover. It wrote: "We understand the past, as best we can, and guess at the future. But history is as nothing to the lives of the children being born now, this morning, in the cities, towns and villages of this country."On their behalf, we assert a claim to a better, more decent, more just future in which a country's governments will be ruled always by the decisions of its citizens.'' (credit:Sunday Herald)
Yes. No. Wait, What?: Elijah Wood(12 of12)
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Sir Sean appeared to win an ally when Lord of The Rings actor Elijah Wood said Scotland should "fucking go for it" with independence.But he later backtracked, claiming he had misunderstood the question he was asked at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Speaking to the Scotsman, he said: "You know, in truth, I thought they were talking about independent cinema. I mean, it’s a film festival.” (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)