WORKERS in Warrington were among the hardest hit as average earnings across the North West dropped by 14.8 per cent over the last six years.
In Warrington, pay fell by 23.8 per cent, with only Bolton, with a drop of 25 per cent, being hit harder, according to the GMB union.
GMB says that in April 2008 the mean gross annual earnings for all employees resident in the region according to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) was £23,522.
The ASHE figure for the mean gross annual earnings for all employees resident in the region for April 2014 was £24,617. This is an increase of £1,095 or 4.7 per cent.
But with inflation running at 19.5 per cent over the same period, the drop in real value of average earnings in the region has been 14.8 per cent.
For the UK as a whole the drop in the real value of average earnings was 15.1 per cent.
The data, published by Office for National Statistics, was analysed and ranked by GMB.
Mean gross annual earnings for workers in Warrington in 2008 was £28,366 but by this year had fallen to £27,130 – a drop of £1,236 or -4.4 per cent.
This means the drop in the real value of earnings was -23.8 per cent.
Paul McCarthy, GMB North West regional secretary said; “These figures
are a damning and shocking indictment of how the Tories have run the
economy and who has benefited from their time in office.
“It has been the bankers and financiers first and working people and their families last. This must change in 2015.”
