But the numbers require careful handling and the ons has plastered its recent releases with more than the usual number of caveats. At the moment, annual figures are artificially boosted by “base effects” because current readings are being compared with those from mid-2020, when the economic hit from the pandemic was at its worst. This is compounded by a “compositional effect”: low-paid workers were the most likely to lose their jobs during the recession, meaning that average wages for those still in work increased automatically, even without anyone being paid more. Underlying growth, therefore, is surely weaker than the headline measures. Data from Indeed, an online-recruitment company, show that wages on advertisements posted on its website rose by an average of just 0.8% between February and July, not accounting for inflation.