UK Wage Growth Tops Forecasts

2026-06-18 06:07 By Farida Husna 1 min. read

Regular pay in the UK, excluding bonuses, rose 3.4% year-on-year to GBP 697 per week in the three months to April 2026, matching March's pace while exceeding market expectations of 3.2%.

It remained the weakest increase since the three months to October 2020, with private sector wages slowing to 2.9% from 3.1%, the lowest since the three months to October 2020.

Meanwhile, public sector pay accelerated to 5.1% from the prior 4.8%, which had been the softest since late 2024.

By industry, annual gains were seen in wholesale, retail, hotels, and restaurants (3.5%), manufacturing (3.1%), services (3.6%), and finance and business services (2.5%), but declined for construction (-0.7%).

Adjusted for inflation, real wages edged up 0.1% in the three months to April, keeping the same pace as in the previous period and staying at the lowest level since mid-2023.



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UK Wage Growth Tops Forecasts
Regular pay in the UK, excluding bonuses, rose 3.4% year-on-year to GBP 697 per week in the three months to April 2026, matching March's pace while exceeding market expectations of 3.2%. It remained the weakest increase since the three months to October 2020, with private sector wages slowing to 2.9% from 3.1%, the lowest since the three months to October 2020. Meanwhile, public sector pay accelerated to 5.1% from the prior 4.8%, which had been the softest since late 2024. By industry, annual gains were seen in wholesale, retail, hotels, and restaurants (3.5%), manufacturing (3.1%), services (3.6%), and finance and business services (2.5%), but declined for construction (-0.7%). Adjusted for inflation, real wages edged up 0.1% in the three months to April, keeping the same pace as in the previous period and staying at the lowest level since mid-2023.
2026-06-18
UK Wage Growth Slows to Over 5-Year Low
Regular pay in the UK, excluding bonuses, rose 3.4% year-on-year to GBP 693 per week in the three months to March 2026, easing from a 3.6% growth in the previous period and matching market expectations. It was the weakest increase since the three months to October 2020, with private sector wages slowing to 3.0% from 3.2%, the lowest since the three months to October 2020. Also, public sector pay moderated to 4.8% from the prior 5.2%, the softest since late 2024. By industry, annual gains were seen in wholesale, retail, hotels, and restaurants (3.6%), manufacturing (3.2%), services (3.6%), and finance and business services (2.4%), but declined for construction (-0.6%). Adjusted for inflation, real wages edged up 0.1% in the three months to March, after a 0.2% gain in the previous period, the lowest since mid-2023.
2026-05-19
UK Wage Growth Tops Estimates
Regular pay in the UK, excluding bonuses, rose 3.6% year-on-year to GBP 692 per week in the three months to February 2026, slowing from a 3.8% growth in the previous period but exceeding market expectations of 3.5%. It was the weakest increase since the three months to November 2020, with private sector wages slowing slightly to 3.2% from 3.3%, the lowest since the three months to October 2020. Also, public sector pay slowed to 5.2% from the prior 6.0%, the softest since early 2025. By industry, annual gains were seen in wholesale, retail, hotels, and restaurants (4.2%), manufacturing (3.5%), services (3.7%), construction (0.5%), and finance and business services (2.4%). Adjusted for inflation, real wages rose 0.2% in the three months to February, easing from a 0.2% gain in the previous period, the lowest since mid-2023.
2026-04-21