Portsmouth sees average salary value fall by more than £1,000 as cost of living crisis worsens

Portsmouth has seen the purchasing power of the average salary tumble amid rising inflation. PA Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

WAGES purchasing power in Portsmouth have fallen by more than £1,000 as the cost of living crisis deepens, new analysis from Portsmouth Labour shows.

The analysis from the political party - based on the latest Labour Market Statistics – shows that the average salary’s value has fallen £1,117.74 in Portsmouth over the last 12 months.

Across the country, the real value of wages has fallen by 4.1 per cent - which is the steepest fall since records began over 20 years ago.

Leader of the Portsmouth Labour council group and chair of the employment committee Councillor Cal Corkery said his party was calling on the council to ensure all its suppliers pay ‘at least’ the Real Living Wage – £9.90 across the UK.

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Cllr Corkery said: ‘Portsmouth is taking an absolute hammering from the cost of living crisis, yet the Conservative Government seem to have taken the summer off.

Residents’ hard-earned money is being swept away by the steepest fall since records began, and the worst is yet to come. Energy bills are going up, prices in the shops are soaring, and mortgages are heading in the wrong direction too.

‘Here in Portsmouth Labour councillors have been campaigning for a pay rise for thousands of local workers through the council ensuring its suppliers pay at least the Real Living Wage.

‘This would mean a significant pay uplift for many of those on the lowest incomes including over two thousand frontline social care workers. We are calling on the Lib Dem run council to take this action as an urgent step to tackling the cost of living crisis.’