The official rate of unemployment in the north remained at a near record low over the summer, with the average wage now 11.3% higher than last year.
Wage growth in Northern Ireland is now well above the headline rate of UK inflation, according to the latest labour market report from the NI Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).
Data sourced from HMRC showed the average monthly wage for PAYE workers stood at £2,328 in August, an 11.3% (£237) increase over the year.
HMRC said the median monthly pay of employees on payrolls increased by £78 (3.5%) between July and August.
The official consumer price index showed prices in the UK increased by 2.2% in the year to July 2024.
But the 4% increase in UK wide wages for the three months to July, means the full state pension is set to rise by £460 from next April.
Under the “triple lock” guarantee, the state pension increases every April in line with whichever is the highest of average total earnings growth in the year from May to July of the previous year, CPI inflation in September of the previous year, or 2.5%
As inflation is not expected to be higher than wage growth, the wages figure is likely to be used for the calculation.
It will mean pensioners who reached state pension age after April 2016 can expect to see their full, flat-rate state pension go up to £11,962.60 a year from next April - a rise of £460.
The figures are subject to possible revisions in next month’s data and the UK Government will confirm the planned increase in the autumn.
Meanwhile, HMRC data published on Tuesday showed the total number of employees on payrolls in Northern Ireland fell by around 2,100 (0.1%) between July and August to 805,570.
The pay as you earn (PAYE) workforce was still 1.8% larger than 12 months earlier.
Nisra estimate the proportion of working age adults (16-64) not in employment was just 2% in the three months to July.
The September labour market report said the official rate of unemployment had decreased by 0.6 percentage points over the past year.
However, the number of people on the north’s claimant count also increased last month to 41,600, up by 4.2% on July.
Nisra estimate the north’s employment rate decreased over the May to July period by 0.2 percentage points to 71.1%, albeit 1.2pps up over the year.
The rate of economic activity increased by 0.4pps to 27.5%, which was 0.8pps down on 12 months earlier.
Officially, the Department for the Economy was notified of 110 confirmed redundancies in August, taking the rolling 12-month total to 2,550.
The latest quarterly employment survey from Nisra estimated the total number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland hit a record high of 826,130 in June.
