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Scottish earners ‘less worse off’
STATISTICS issued by the GMB Union show that Scotland is the second-least affected of a dozen UK regions in terms of real value of average earnings between 2008 and 2012.
But within Scotland, Angus is the fourth-worst area.
Nationally, London is the worst-off area in the four-year period in question, with the drop in real earnings 17.4 per cent.
In Scotland there was a 9.5 per cent reduction in real earnings. In England the equivalent figure was 12.8 per cent.
Within the 31 areas of Scotland, Scottish Borders is worst off, with a reduction of 12.8 per cent.
Incredibly, the average in West Lothian is an improvement in real terms of 16.3 per cent.
Angus is at the wrong end of the table, fourth-worst at 15.7 per cent.
But Angus is rated better than Dundee City, 17.1 per cent worse off; and Perth & Kinross, 20.1 per cent worse.
Aberdeenshire is 14.6 worse off, but the City of Aberdeen is only 4.6 per cent worse.
Statistics come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and they were published by the Office for National Statistics.
The GMB Scotland secretary, Harry Donaldson, said: “These Scottish figures show why we are on our way to a triple dip recession.
“Consumer spending is the biggest single component of demand in the economy, and with the real value of wages from employment falling off there is no mystery as to why the economy is in a downward spiral.
“The replacing of full-time permanent jobs with part-time and temporary lower-paid jobs is part of this.”
Mr Donaldson concluded: “A living wage and pay rises to help hard-pressed families as bills go through the roof are needed to boost the economy and stop the downward spiral.”
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Weather for Montrose
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
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Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
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