Wages are falling behind inflation, new figures have shown. However, last month did see employment figures jump.
Between December and January, the number of Brits employed jumped by 108,000 to 29.5m.
However, total pay growth rose to 4.3% whilst inflation soared to record levels of 5.4%.
“The number of employees on payrolls rose again in January 2022 and is now well above pre-pandemic levels,” said Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS.
“However, our Labour Force Survey shows the number of people in employment overall is well below where it was before Covid-19 hit. This is because there are now far fewer self-employed people.”
“The survey also shows that unemployment has fallen again and is now only fractionally above where it was before the pandemic.”