North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has welcomed news that average weekly wages have reached their highest levels since Labour’s financial crash.
Figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed that the average weekly wage reached £512 in the three months to December - which is the highest since March 2008, when adjusted for inflation.
In addition to this:
- the employment rate reached a record high of 75.5% - up 0.6% than last year and 0.4% up on the last quarter.
- the number of people in employment rose by 336,000 on the year, and by 189,000 on the previous quarter.
- the increase in the number of people employed has been driven by full-time employment, which rose by 381,000 on the year to reach a record high of 24.42 million people.
- the unemployment level fell to 3.8%, down by 73,000 on the previous year and down 580,000 from five years ago.
- The economic inactivity* rate fell to a record low of 20.5%, down 0.4% on the previous year and down 0.3% on the quarter.
- The number of people considered economically inactivity stands at 8.48 million, falling by 155,000 on last year and 587,000 fewer than five years ago.
Justin Tomlinson said: “I am delighted that after 10 years of the Conservative Government’s balanced approach to the economy, wages are finally back to where they were before the 2008 financial crash. It is also fantastic that the number of people in work continues to rise, this means more people earning and providing for their families. Here in Swindon, we have seen over 11,000 new jobs created, making a real difference locally.”
*The number of people without a job, but who are not classed as unemployed because they have not been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and/or they are unable to start work within the next two weeks.
