Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to today’s Labour Market Statistics, said:

“Today’s fall in overall unemployment is welcome, but after four years when prices have risen faster than wages, working people are over £1,600 a year worse off since 2010. There is a huge amount of lost ground to catch up. And while falling global oil prices have led to the rate of inflation going down, wages remain sluggish.

“Over the course of this Parliament working people are set to see the biggest fall in wages of any Parliament since 1874-1880. The Government’s failure to tackle low pay is making it harder to get the deficit down. According to the OBR income tax receipts alone are £70 billion lower than forecast in 2010.

“Labour’s commitment to tackling the cost-of-living crisis and low pay is part of our tough but balanced plan to get the deficit down and earn our way to higher living standards for all, not just a few at the top. A Labour government will raise the National Minimum Wage to £8 an hour, bring in Make Work Pay contracts to ensure more people are paid a Living Wage, get more homes built and extend free childcare provision. And we will get the next generation into work with a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee.”

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