UK regular-pay growth edges up to 3.7% in June–August 2026; real growth holds at 0.6%
UK nominal regular-pay growth rose to 3.7% in June–August 2026, while real regular-pay growth remained at 0.6%. The ONS figures show a modest pickup in nominal earnings growth without a corresponding acceleration in inflation-adjusted pay.
UK nominal regular-pay growth edged up to 3.7% in June–August 2026, while real regular-pay growth held at 0.6%, according to the Office for National Statistics. The combination points to slightly firmer nominal wage growth but no further acceleration in purchasing-power gains. Both figures measure annual growth in three-month averages, rather than changes in August alone.
The nominal rate increased by 0.1 percentage points from 3.6% in May–July 2026. Real regular-pay growth was unchanged over the same comparison. Because the two reporting windows share June and July, this is an incremental shift in overlapping estimates, not evidence of a separate monthly jump in wages.
The recent history puts that movement in perspective. Nominal growth stood at 3.4% in each of the three windows ending in March, April and May, before edging higher in subsequent readings. Real growth followed a different path: it rose from 0.1% in the window ending in March to 0.6% in the window ending in June, then remained at that rate through August. The earlier improvement in real-pay growth has therefore levelled off.
The nominal measure, KAI9, covers seasonally adjusted regular-pay growth excluding arrears. A2FA is the ONS real-terms regular-pay growth series. Their definitions are not identical, so the difference between the two rates should not be read as an implied inflation rate.
Modest support for household purchasing power
Positive real-pay growth offers a measure of income resilience: average regular pay is growing in inflation-adjusted terms, which could help households sustain consumption. But the unchanged real growth rate suggests that this support is not gathering pace. It is a modest purchasing-power gain, rather than evidence of an accelerating spending impulse.
For wage pressure, the nominal pickup points away from an immediate cooling in pay growth. That is a narrower signal than strengthening labour demand: earnings alone do not establish whether employers are hiring more or using more hours. The clearest reading is slightly firmer nominal pay growth alongside stable, modest real gains.
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