The biggest pay cut in the public sector in 20 years

In the three months to February, public sector pay for positions including NHS employees, teachers, and civil officials dropped farther behind price increases, according to data.

While public sector workers’ incomes increased, price increases outpaced them, resulting in a 3% reduction in spending power, the largest drop in 20 years.

A typical private sector employee’s income, on the other hand, bought 0.5 percent less.

According to the most recent inflation data, the cost of living is rising at its fastest rate in 30 years.

According to the most recent estimates, inflation rose to 6.2 percent in February, according to the most recent data, and new data going out on Wednesday is expected to indicate a further increase in March.

According to the ONS, the jobless rate has dropped to 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent last month.

According to Capital Economics, the decline in unemployment is primarily attributed to people leaving the labour force owing to retirement, family responsibilities, or long-term illness.

According to Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, the number of people classified as inactive increased by 76,000 in the three months.

Between January and March, the number of job openings reached a new high of 1.29 million, up 492,400 from the pre-pandemic first three months of 2020.

According to the ONS, construction had the greatest rate of vacancies, up 18.7% in the first three months of the year. Job openings in industries such as hotels and food services, including restaurants and entertainment, increased by 13.1%.

However, there was a decrease in demand for personnel in the gas and electricity industries, with vacancy rates falling by 14%.

The latest data, according to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, “highlights the sustained resilience of our jobs market,” and the government is “helping to cushion the impacts of global price spikes through over £22 billion in cost-of-living support this financial year.”

However, Pat McFadden, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the statistics showed that “conservative choices are squeezing real wages and making people worse off.”