London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Second largest fall in real wage growth since records began while unemployment rate ticks up

Second largest fall in real wage growth since records began while unemployment rate ticks up

The ONS reveals the impact of inflation on wages while the data also shows there were more working days lost to strike action in October than in any month since November 2011.

The UK recorded its second largest fall in real wage growth since records began in 2001 during October and the unemployment rate rose, according to new official jobs figures which also highlight the growing impact of strikes on the economy.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that wage growth was 4.2% weaker when the effects of CPI inflation were included - following a reading of 3.7% the previous month - revealing a clear deterioration in the cost of living crisis.

A low of 4.6% had been recorded in April - shortly after the inflation surge was exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine towards the end of February.


The rate of inflation hit 11.1% - a 41-year high - in October as it reflected the latest increases to energy bills, albeit tempered by government support.

The ONS data also charted the clear divide between public and private sector wage growth over the three months to October, running at an average annual rate of 2.7% for public sector workers.

It was 6.9% for private sector staff - much higher but still well below the inflation rate.

The figures were released as a new round of rail strikes got underway - with more widespread disruption due in the run-up to the festive season involving the likes of nurses, ambulance staff and Royal Mail workers.

The ONS reported that 417,000 days were lost to strikes in October - a figure that is set to rise in the data to come as unions remain at loggerheads with the government on public sector pay.



The ONS stats reflected the surge in higher private sector wage deals as pay, excluding bonuses, were up 6.1% - the biggest increase since records began in 2001 when jumps during the COVID-19 period, which were distorted by lockdowns and government support measures, were excluded.
Advertisement

The figure promises to enter the calculations when the Bank of England, which is pressing for lower wage settlements as part of its fight against inflation, meets to set Bank rate this week.

The jobless rate, the ONS reported, rose to 3.7% over the same period.

That was up from the 3.6% figure reported a month ago.

The wider data also showed that vacancies dropped by 65,000 in the three months to November to 1.9 million - the fifth quarterly fall in a row and the first annual fall since the beginning of last year.

But the figures signalled that more people are choosing to return to work, with the inactivity rate falling to 21.5% as those in their 50s opt to go back to work at a time of rocketing costs.

Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics, said: "This quarter the proportion of people neither working nor looking for a job fell, driven by a drop in the number of working-age people regarding themselves as retired.

"This tallies with other data which suggest more people in their 50s are thinking of going back to work, at a time when the cost of living is rising rapidly.

"With more people re-engaging with the labour market, there were more in employment and also more who were actively looking for a job."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×