Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2017

Date published: 26 October 2017

ASHE is a UK wide survey that provides a wide range of information on hourly, weekly and annual earnings by gender, work pattern, industry and occupation including public and private sector pay comparisons.

Key points

  • Median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in April 2017 were £501, an increase of 1.5% from £494 in 2016. This is the first time median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees have exceeded £500.
  • When adjusted for inflation median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees decreased by 1.0%.
  • In the UK, median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £550, an increase of 2.2% since 2016 (£539). When adjusted for inflation UK median earnings decreased by 0.4%.
  • The increase in median gross weekly earnings was more marked in the private than in the public sector. The full-time median gross weekly earnings in the private sector increased by 3.0% to £446, compared to a 1.0% increase in the public sector, to £623.
  • In part due to the continued impact of the National Living Wage, those in the lowest 10% of the full-time weekly earnings distribution experienced a larger increase (4.5%) than those in the highest 10% (0.7%).
  • Full-time hourly earnings for females (£12.67) were 3.4% greater than those for full-time males (£12.25).Full-time hourly earnings for females in NI have been higher or equal to males since 2010. This is in contrast to the UK, where full-time hourly earnings for males (£14.48) were 10.0% greater than those for full-time females (£13.16).
  • Annual earnings increased marginally (0.1%) for all full-time employees in NI over the year, but remained lower than the UK median of £29,758.
  • Total weekly hours worked by full-time employees increased by 0.2 hours over the year and is now 0.7 hours greater than the UK.
  • Full report available here

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