Exact rate wages are rising revealed – what it means for your money

WAGES are rising for millions of workers across the UK, new figures reveal.

Growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 6% between January and March, compared to the same time period last year.

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The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also reveal wages in real terms grew by 2% for regular pay.

Wage growth in real terms takes into consideration how much salaries are rising in comparison to inflation.

It means workers' wages are keeping above the cost of living.

The ONS said annual average earnings across the public sector rose by 6.3% between January and March compared to the same three months in 2023.

It said the manufacturing sector and the finance and business services sector saw the largest annual regular growth rate at 6.8%.

It comes after the ONS revealed growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses, was 6% in the three months to February this year.

It also said real terms wages were rising by 1.9% across the same time period when it released the figures last month.

The latest figures from the ONS also reveal the number of vacancies between February to April 2024 was 898,000.

This is a decrease of 26,000 from the previous three months and 188,000 lower than a year before.

Meanwhile, unemployment for workers 16 and older stood at 4.3% between January and March this year, compared to the same time period last year.

This is a rise compared to the three months to February, when it stood at 4.2%.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "We continue to see tentative signs that the jobs market is cooling, with both employment from our household survey and the number of workers on payroll showing falls in the latest periods.

"At the same time the steady decline in the number of job vacancies has continued for a twenty-second consecutive month, although numbers remain above pre-pandemic levels.

"Earnings growth in cash terms remains high, with the recent falls in the rate now levelling off while, with inflation falling, real pay growth remains at its highest level in well over two years."

Rising wages, particularly in real terms, is good news for workers as it means their salaries are keeping pace with the cost of living.

But it can also drive inflation, as businesses rise the price of their services and goods to stay profitable.

The Bank of England raises its base rate to control runaway inflation, with its base rate currently sat at 5.25%.

But a rise in interest rates spells bad news for homeowners who are forced to pay out more on their mortgages.

Cooling inflation in recent months means economists are predicting the BoE will lower interest rates later this year though.

That means mortgage rates should fall.