Nearly a million days lost to strikes in December in UK

theguardian.com:

Almost a million working days were lost to strikes in December as real-terms pay growth last year dropped at among the fastest rates for more than 20 years.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics add to the squeeze on households amid the cost of living crisis.

It said 843,000 working days were lost in December, the highest monthly figure for more than a decade, amid rolling strikes involving NHS, rail and Post Office workers, and elsewhere across the economy.

ONS figures also showed that real-terms pay, excluding bonuses, fell by 3.6% in the three months to December, among the largest falls since comparable records began in 2001.

Without adjusting for inflation, annual growth in regular pay for all workers, excluding bonuses, strengthened to 6.7% over the period. It was the fastest growth since 2001 – excluding the pandemic, when official pay figures were distorted by the furlough scheme – but still well below the current headline inflation rate in the UK of 10.5%.

Strong wage growth for City bankers and accountants helped to drive up private sector pay growth, before adjusting for inflation, to 7.3%, as wages in the public sector continued to trail significantly behind with a growth rate of 4.2%.

Rachel Gomez, senior economist at the charity Pro Bono Economics, said the figures showed the UK’s national pay squeeze had entered a 15th month. “While the inflationary squeeze on wages persists, the most vulnerable households will continue to face serious financial challenges,” she said.

The figures were released as the government comes under mounting pressure to increase public sector pay amid widespread disputes.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, said Britain’s low levels of unemployment were an “encouraging sign of