Owen Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on ONS Labour Market Statistics and on DWP Statistics on Universal Credit, said:

“These figures show pay continues to bump along the bottom so it’s especially concerning the government has also confirmed today even more working families will be hit by their cuts next April.

“It appears that now Universal Credit has become a vehicle for cuts, the Tories are rolling it out quicker than ever. Iain Duncan Smith has allowed £6bn a year worth of cuts to be made to Universal Credit, and the Tory Treasury is clearly in a hurry to introduce those cuts.

“That means 2.6 million working families will be worse off by an average of £1,600 a year come 2020. In the meantime, a perverse postcode lottery will have been created where you lose hundreds if you’re on tax credits, or thousands if you’re on Universal Credit.

“With pay having crashed over the last five years and with it continuing to slow in these figures, working families have suffered enough under the Tories. Cutting in-work support even further is the very last thing the government should be doing.

“That’s why Labour is calling on the government to fully reverse these cuts before they begin to bite next April.”