- By John Campbell
- BBC News NI economics and enterprise editor
Unison members have been on strike this yr on account of pay disputes
The typical full time public sector employee in Northern Ireland noticed their actual pay fall over 7% within the final yr.
Real pay is the worth of pay adjusted for inflation and is a information to how dwelling requirements are altering.
The figures come from the official Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
There is presently industrial motion throughout public companies in Northern Ireland in protest at below-inflation pay settlements.
Private sector pay elevated
The ASHE figures counsel that non-public sector employees fared significantly better over the past yr with typical full time pay growing by 1.4% in actual phrases.
However that doesn’t imply that every one components of the non-public sector noticed actual pay growing, for instance typical actual pay in monetary companies was down by 11%.
Weekly earnings within the public sector (£733) have been nonetheless 22% increased than within the non-public sector (£599), however that’s the smallest distinction on file.
The common hole over the past 20 years was round 37%.
Image supply, Getty Images
Some of the variations between the private and non-private sector figures are on account of variations within the composition of the respective workforces
Some of the variations between the private and non-private sector figures are on account of variations within the composition of the respective workforces.
Many of the lowest-paid occupations, resembling hospitality and retail, exist virtually solely within the non-public sector, whereas within the public sector there’s a bigger proportion of graduate-level {and professional} occupations.
When taking all jobs into consideration typical weekly pay for a full time employee in Northern Ireland elevated by 7.4% in money phrases however fell by 0.3% in actual phrases over the yr to April 2023.
This is the second yr in a row that actual pay has fallen.
The NI Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra), which produces the figures, says that when contemplating private and non-private sector earnings over the past 20 years, the general public sector has proven no progress in actual earnings, in distinction to a progress of 13% within the non-public sector.
The figures counsel typical annual earnings for full-time staff in NI have been £32,900 in 2023, decrease than the UK median of £35,000.
Fifth lowest paid UK area
A wage of £59,000 would put somebody into the highest 10% of earners in Northern Ireland.
Looking throughout the UK’s 12 UK areas, NI skilled the second largest enhance in weekly money earnings over the yr to £641 and is now the fifth lowest paid area, with London (£840) highest and the North East of England (£608) lowest.
The ASHE is a UK-wide survey of employers, primarily based on a 1% pattern of worker jobs. The knowledge is drawn from HM Revenue and Customs’ Pay As You Earn (PAYE) information.
A tough comparability will also be made with the Republic of Ireland.
That would imply typical full time pay within the Republic is round 10% increased in money phrases in comparison with NI however that doesn’t reveal the relative buying energy of these wages on all sides of the border.
Analysis: Closing hole between private and non-private
When you begin to drill into this on a sector-by-sector foundation; for instance, in monetary companies, individuals there have seen a giant fall in pay in actual phrases and people in hospitality which tends to be a decrease paid sector have additionally seen their pay fall a bit in actual phrases.
It is price saying that the standard public sector employee nonetheless will get paid more than the standard non-public sector employee however the distinction is way smaller than it has been.
Over the previous 20 years or in order that premium for the general public sector has been near 40%. On the newest figures it’s getting near 20%.