In March 2025, inflation amounted to 2.4 percent, while wages grew by 4.3 percent. The inflation rate has not exceeded the rate of wage growth since January 2023. Inflation in 2022 The high rates of inflation in 2022 meant that the real terms value of American wages took a hit. Many Americans report feelings of concern over the economy and a worsening of their financial situation. The inflation situation in the United States is one that was experienced globally in 2022, mainly due to COVID-19 related supply chain constraints and disruption due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The monthly inflation rate for the U.S. reached a 40-year high in June 2022 at 9.1 percent, and annual inflation for 2022 reached eight percent. Without appropriate wage increases, Americans will continue to see a decline in their purchasing power. Wages in the U.S. Despite the level of wage growth reaching 6.7 percent in the summer of 2022, it has not been enough to curb the impact of even higher inflation rates. The federally mandated minimum wage in the United States has not increased since 2009, meaning that individuals working minimum wage jobs have taken a real terms pay cut for the last twelve years. There are discrepancies between states - the minimum wage in California can be as high as 15.50 U.S. dollars per hour, while a business in Oklahoma may be as low as two U.S. dollars per hour. However, even the higher wage rates in states like California and Washington may be lacking - one analysis found that if minimum wage had kept up with productivity, the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. should have been 22.88 dollars per hour in 2021. Additionally, the impact of decreased purchasing power due to inflation will impact different parts of society in different ways with stark contrast in average wages due to both gender and race.

Between March 2024 and March 2025, wages in the professional, scientific, and technical services in Australia grew by around 2.9 percent. The electricity, gas, water and waste services industry had the highest wage growth, with an annual change of 4.4 percent.

United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Lower Half of Wage Dist data was reported at 4.300 % in Apr 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.500 % for Mar 2025. United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Lower Half of Wage Dist data is updated monthly, averaging 3.800 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 329 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.300 % in Nov 2022 and a record low of 1.600 % in Jan 2011. United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Lower Half of Wage Dist data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G114: Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: 12-Month Moving Average.

Between March 2024 and March 2025, wages in the Australian Capital Territory grew by an average of 3.9 percent. Average wage growth across all states and territories measured around 3.4 percent during the time period. New South Wales experienced the lowest average wage growth during the period, with 3.1 percent.

Wages in the United Kingdom increased 4.80 percent in September of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Average Weekly Earnings Growth - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: 25th Percentile data was reported at -0.300 % in Apr 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.000 % for Mar 2025. United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: 25th Percentile data is updated monthly, averaging -1.850 % from Mar 1997 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 338 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.000 % in Mar 2025 and a record low of -4.200 % in Jul 2010. United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: 25th Percentile data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G113: Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: 3-Month Moving Average.

Between March 2024 and March 2025, wages in Australia declined by around 0.6 percent. Wage growth in recent years has been relatively low in comparison to previous years, in particular in December 2020, which only saw a wage growth of 1.3%. Inflation and CPI outstripping wages While wages have increased in Australia, they have still not matched the rate of inflation, which was sitting at 2.4 percent at the end of 2024, down from a high of 7.8 percent at the end of 2022. The high cost of goods has also put pressure on the public, with the Consumer Price Index standing at around 139.4 points, compared to a base year of 2011-12. Rent is on the rise As with many around the world, Australians are also feeling the costs of rent increases. The majority of people in Australia perceive that the cost of rent has risen significantly in their local area. This in turn has seen the government expenditure on rental assistance continue to be high, with around 4.7 billion Australian dollars spent to assist the Australian public in maintaining their housing needs.

Wages for regular pay in the United Kingdom grew by approximately 4.6 percent in the three months to September 2025, compared with 4.7 percent in the previous month. When adjusted for inflation, however, wage in the UK grew by just 0.5 percent. Twenty months of inflation outpacing wages Between November 2021 and June 2023, inflation was higher than wage growth in the UK, resulting in falling real terms earnings throughout this 20-month period. While UK inflation peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022, it was not until April 2023 that it fell below double figures, and not until May 2024 that it reached the Bank of England's target of two percent. Forecasts from the Autumn 2024 budget predict that the annual UK inflation for 2024 will be 2.5 percent, down from 7.3 percent in 2023 and 9.1 percent in 2022. Due to high inflation, the UK's minimum wage also rose quite significantly during this period, with the "main" rate increasing from 8.91 pounds per hour in 2021 to 12.21 pounds per hour in 2025. Average earnings and gender pay gap For full-time workers in the United Kingdom, the median average annual earnings was just over 39,000 British pounds in 2025, compared with around 37,500 pounds in 2024. In London, average earnings were significantly higher than the rest of the country, at just under 50,000 pounds. Just two other areas of the United Kingdom, the South East and Scotland, had annual salaries above the UK average. North East England had the lowest average salary, at 34,400 pounds. As of 2025, the gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings in the UK was 12.8 percent for all workers, falling to 6.9 percent for full-time workers and -2.9 percent for part-time workers. Compared with 1997, when the gender pay gap was 27.5 percent for all workers, there has been a degree of progress, although, at current trends, it will be some time before the gap is closed entirely.

United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Paid Hourly data was reported at 4.200 % in Apr 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.400 % for Mar 2025. United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Paid Hourly data is updated monthly, averaging 3.500 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 329 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.500 % in Mar 2023 and a record low of 1.600 % in Jun 2011. United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Paid Hourly data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G114: Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: 12-Month Moving Average.

United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: Job Switcher data was reported at 4.300 % in Apr 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 4.200 % for Mar 2025. United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: Job Switcher data is updated monthly, averaging 4.200 % from Mar 1997 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 338 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.500 % in Jul 2022 and a record low of 1.200 % in Jan 2010. United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: Job Switcher data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G113: Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: 3-Month Moving Average.

Graph and download economic data for Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private (CES0500000003) from Mar 2006 to Sep 2025 about earnings, average, establishment survey, hours, wages, private, employment, and USA.

United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: Upper Half of Wage Dist data was reported at 4.500 % in Apr 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 4.500 % for Mar 2025. United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: Upper Half of Wage Dist data is updated monthly, averaging 3.600 % from Mar 1997 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 338 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.300 % in May 2023 and a record low of 1.500 % in Nov 2010. United States Median Wage Growth: 3-Mo Mov Avg: Upper Half of Wage Dist data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G113: Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: 3-Month Moving Average.

In the three months to August 2025, average weekly earnings in the United Kingdom grew by 4.7 percent. In the same month, the inflation rate for the Consumer Price Index was 3.8 percent, indicating that wages were rising faster than prices that month. Average salaries in the UK In 2024, the average salary for full-time workers in the UK was 37,430 British pounds a year, up from 34,963 in the previous year. In London, the average annual salary was far higher than the rest of the country, at 47,455 pounds per year, compared with just 32,960 in North East England. There also still exists a noticeable gender pay gap in the UK, which was seven percent for full-time workers in 2024, down from 7.5 percent in 2023. Lastly, the monthly earnings of the top one percent in the UK was 15,887 pounds as of November 2024, far higher than even that of the average for the top five percent, who earned 7,641 pounds per month, while pay for the lowest 10 percent of earners was just 805 pounds per month. Waves of industrial action in the UK One of the main consequences of high inflation and low wage growth throughout 2022 and 2023 was an increase in industrial action in the UK. In December 2022, for example, there were approximately 830,000 working days lost due to labor disputes. Throughout this month, workers across various industry sectors were involved in industrial disputes, such as nurses, train drivers, and driving instructors. Many of the workers who took part in strikes were part of the UK's public sector, which saw far weaker wage growth than that of the private sector throughout 2022. Widespread industrial action continued into 2023, with approximately 303,000 workers involved in industrial disputes in March 2023. There was far less industrial action by 2024, however, due to settlements in many of the disputes, although some are ongoing as of 2025.

Wages in Japan increased 1.90 percent in September of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides - Japan Wage Growth- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The median annual earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom was just over 39,000 British pounds in 2025, compared with 37,400 pounds in the previous year. At the start of the provided time period, in 1999, the average full-time salary in the UK was 17,800 pounds per year, with median earnings exceeding 20,000 pounds per year in 2002, and 30,000 by 2019. Wages continue to grow faster than inflation in 2025 Between November 2021 and July 2023 inflation was higher than wage growth in the UK, with wages still outpacing inflation as of March 2025. At the peak of the recent wave of high inflation in October 2022, the CPI inflation rate reached a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent, wages were growing much slower at 6.1 percent. Since that peak, inflation remained persistently high for several months, only dropping below double figures in April 2023, when inflation was 8.7 percent, down from 10.1 percent in the previous month. For 2023 as a whole, the average annual rate of inflation was 7.3 percent but fell to 2.5 percent in 2024, but is forecast to increase to 3.2 percent in 2025. Highest and lowest-paid occupations As of 2023, the highest-paid occupation in the UK was that of Chief Executives and Senior Officials, who had an average weekly pay of approximately, 1,576 pounds. By contrast, the lowest-paid occupation that year was that of retail cashiers, and check-out operators, who earned approximately 383 pounds a week. For industry sectors as a whole, people who worked full-time in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector had the highest average earnings, at 955 pounds a week, compared with 505 pounds a week in the accommodation and food services sector, the lowest average earnings in 2023.

In April 2026, the UK minimum wage for adults over the age of 21 will be 12.71 pounds per hour. For the 2026/27 financial year, there are four minimum wage categories, three of which are based on age and one for apprentice workers. Apprentices, and workers under the age of 18 will have a minimum wage of eight pounds an hour, increasing to 10.85 pounds for those aged 18 to 20. When the minimum wage was first introduced in 1999, there were just two age categories; 18 to 21, and 22 and over. This increased to three categories in 2004, four in 2010, and five between 2016 and 2023, before being reduced down to four in the most recent year. The living wage The living wage is an alternative minimum wage amount that employers in the UK can voluntarily pay their employees. It is calculated independently of the legal minimum wage and results in a higher value figure. In 2023/24, for example, the living wage was twelve pounds an hour for the UK as a whole and 13.15 for workers in London, where the cost of living is typically higher. This living wage is different from what the UK government has named the national living wage, which was 10.42 in the same financial year. Between 2011/12 and 2023/24, the living wage has increased by 4.80 pounds, while the London living wage has grown by 4.85 pounds. Wage growth cancelled-out by high inflation 2021-2023 For a long period between the middle of 2021 and late 2023, average wage growth in the UK was unable to keep up with record inflation levels, resulting in the biggest fall in disposable income since 1956. Although the UK government attempted to mitigate the impact of falling living standards through a series of cost of living payments, the situation has still been very difficult for households. After peaking at 11.1 percent in October 2022, the UK's inflation rate remained in double figures until March 2023, and did not fall to the preferred rate of two percent until May 2024. As of November 2024, regular weekly pay in the UK was growing by 5.6 percent in nominal terms, and 2.5 percent when adjusted for inflation.