Cost-of-living crisis: High Peak wage growth outstrips inflation

The High Peak is bucking the national trend, where across the UK as a whole, real terms wages have fallen again, while strike action across a range of industries is due to take place every day until the end of the year.

The Trades Union Congress said working people "have been pushed to breaking point" and urged the Government to engage in meaningful pay talks with unions.

Office for National Statistics figures show monthly median pay for employees in High Peak sat at £2,172 in November – up from £2,109 the month before. Monthly pay in the area has risen by 10% in the last year, as the rising cost of living hits people's wallets.

The Consumer Prices Index inflation accounting for owner occupier's housing costs (CPIH) – which the ONS uses to calculate real-terms pay – sat at 9.6% in the year to October, the highest since records began in 1989.

It means that wage growth in High Peak was narrowly ahead of inflation in the last year.

But across the UK, real-terms pay between August and October fell by 2.7% compared to the same period the year before – slightly above the record 3% drop seen between April and June.

Ben Harrison, director at the Work Foundation, said workers face "stark challenges" because of inflationary pressures on their pay packets and are being forced to make difficult decisions, including whether to turn the heating on as freezing temperatures bite.