UK economy is “far from out of the woods”

Commenting on today’s (Wednesday) reduction in CPI inflation to 6.8 per cent – that has been driven by falling gas and electricity prices – TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“We all want to see lower inflation. But it will take more than price rises slowing for working people to feel better off – especially with food bills remaining sky high.

“Real wages are still worth less today than in 2008 after the longest pay squeeze in 200 years.  And at the same time, unemployment and insecure work are shooting up.

“Our economy is far from out of the woods – too many long-run challenges remain unaddressed.

“We need a credible plan to deliver decent well-paid jobs across the country. The Conservatives have yet to produce one despite being in office for the past 13 years.”

ONS labour market figures published yesterday revealed a 109,000 rise in unemployment and a record number of workers (1.2 million) on zero-hours contracts.