Wage growth likely to be hit by the Covid-19 outbreak

Figure 1 – Average weekly earnings growth (per cent per annum)

Main points

• According to new ONS statistics published this morning, UK average weekly earnings expanded by 3.1 per cent excluding bonuses in the three months to January 2020 compared to the year before, and by 3.1 per cent if bonus payments are taken into account.
• The Wage Tracker indicates that nominal earnings growth excluding bonuses will be 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 and exactly 3 per cent including bonuses.

Cyrille Lenoel, Senior Economist at NIESR, said: “However, the outlook for wage growth has significantly worsened as a result of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United Kingdom at the beginning of March”.