Statistics show fastest wage growth in a decade - we're sceptical

Official statistics show that wages are increasing at the fastest pace in more than ten years - but we are sceptical.

Forget that people are struggling to get on the property ladder and that more families than ever before are in debt crisis, the Office for National Statistics figures suggests that at the beginning of this year wages have seen a near 3 and a half per cent rise on the same period last year. This is the most significant news people have had with regards wages since the economy crashed over a decade ago.

Whilst we should be swooning at this 'good news' however, we can't help but wonder just where and how these figures have come to be.

The timing of it is bizarre for a start. We can't fathom why wages would be growing at this pace when all anyone in Britain can talk about is the uncertainty that Brexit is creating. Businesses aren't setting people on, and people are refraining from putting their property on the market until the Brexit issue is resolved. With this in mind, it seems somewhat strange that wages would be growing at this pace at this very nervy time.

As well as the wage growth figures, other statistics highlight that there is an increasing number of people in work, but when you look in depth at this information, these numbers are not as clear cut as what people would be led to believe either. It is a fact that there has been a small increase of people in work, but this increase is seen in the over 65 demographic and the reason that there has been an apparent 'increase' in this area is that people are staying in jobs longer and are applying for jobs again as they cannot afford to retire. 

Regardless of what statistics appear to show, we know that there is nearly always another side to the story. And we are quite confident that our statistical breakdown is what most people will be experiencing.