UK workers earning same as 10 years ago: report

Workers in the UK are currently earning about the same as they were 10 years ago, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

ONS said following adjustment for inflation, pay levels peaked in 2009. According to the ONS in real terms between then and 2012 pay was down 3 per cent in real terms.

On average, it said workers were therefore earning roughly the same last year as they were ten years ago, in 2003. According to the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the figures did not come as a surprise.

The TUC's general secretary Frances O'Grady said, official figures now confirmed what everyone knew. He added, living standards had been falling for the vast majority, and there was no sign of change.

The ONS said, the average pay in 2009 was £12.25 an hour with inflation adjustment seeing it fall to £11.92 in 2010 and £11.41 in 2011.

The figures were not very different for workers in London, although, the decline in earnings was a little less steep than in the rest of the country.