Strikes (file photo)
(Picture: PA)The number of working days lost to strikes rose to 417,000 in October, the highest level in more than a decade, official figures have revealed.
The data, released on Tuesday morning by the Office for National Statistics, come as the UK was hit by the start of another wave of strikes by rail workers and with nurses set to walk out on industrial action later this week.
Although there were rail and bus strikes in October, the industrial action was not on the scale of this month’s widespread walk outs by workers across a range of sectors.
The ONS also revealed how pay for workers in the private sector grew at the highest rate outside of the Covid pandemic period, stretching the earnings gap with nurses, civil servants and other public sector workers.
The latest pay data will only add to the pressure on ministers who are digging in on pay demands despite the growing wave of industrial action.
The ONS said average regular pay growth for the private sector was 6.9 per cent in August to October 2022, and 2.7 per cent for the public sector.
It added that outside of the height of the pandemic period, this was “the largest growth rate seen for the private sector and is among the largest differences between the private sector and public sector growth rates we have seen”.
Despite the increase in earnings, soaring inflation - 11.1 per cent in October - means workers in both the public and private sector are seeing real terms wages fall.
While the latest figures were below the record 3 per cent real terms drop seen earlier this year, total and regular pay between August and October fell in real terms by 2.7 per cent on the year, the ONS said.
It added that it “remains among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001”.
The ONS data also showed the rate of UK unemployment rose to 3.7 per cent in the three months to October, up from 3.6 per cent in the previous three months.
Mr Hunt said: “While unemployment in the UK remains close to historic lows, high inflation continues to plague economies around the world as we manage the impacts of Covid-19 and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“To get the British economy back on track, we have a plan which will help to more than halve inflation next year - but that requires some difficult decisions now. Any action that risks embedding high prices into our economy will only prolong the pain for everyone, and stunt any prospect of long-term economic growth.
“With job vacancies at near record highs, we are committed to helping people back into work, and helping those in employment to raise their incomes, progress in work, and become financially independent.”
On Monday, Mr Hunt insisted the growing gap between pay in the public and private sectors was necessary to avoid spiralling inflation getting worse.
With public sector workers demanding pay increases closer to the current rate of inflation, the Government insists it will stick to the recommendations of independent pay review bodies.
Ministers argue that those settlements for 2022/23 provide the largest uplifts in 20 years – in many cases higher than settlements seen in the private sector around this time.
They add that an inflation-matching pay increase of 11 per cent for all public sector workers would cost an estimated £28 billion, worsening debt and risking embedding inflation in our economy.
Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation think-tank at Lancaster University, said: “It is no surprise strikes are looming in the run-up to Christmas. After years of stagnating pay, the nearly 5.8 million public sector workers are being hit hardest as their wage increases of 2.7 per cent fall short of private sector growth at 6.9 per cent, and lag seriously behind inflation at 11.1 per cent.”
Yaelâ¯Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG UK, said: “Regular pay growth picked up again in nominal terms, but was negative when adjusted for inflation. With bargaining power pivoting away from employees and towards employers, we expect nominal pay growth to moderate to around 5 per cent over the next 12 months, although the welcome news is that real pay growth should turn positive.
“With the economy likely already in recession, we expect unemployment to start trending upwards from the first half of next year. Our forecast sees the unemployment rate reaching 5.6 per cent by mid-2024, representing an increase of around 670,000 people.”
