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  "path": "/money/rachel-reeves-record-public-sector-wage-bill",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-07T09:09:49.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "State pension compensation row escalates as MPs demand Waspi U-turn - 'wrong decision!'",
    "'I’m 70 and live with five strangers' Retirees flock to flat sharing as pensions fail to cover rent",
    "Council tax loophole exposed as second-home owners dodge 100 per cent tax",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nGovernment employees recorded just a 0.1 per cent productivity improvement in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier, despite strong wage growth across the public sector.\n\nThe marginal increase comes as public sector pay has risen sharply, with average regular earnings climbing 7.9 per cent over the past 12 months, representing the fastest rate since records began, data from the Office for National Statistics shows (ONS).\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe public sector workforce has also expanded since Labour took office following the 2024 general election, with headcount increasing by 88,000 staff.\n\nOfficial data highlights the relationship between increased staffing levels, higher wages and overall output across Government-funded services.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSince 2019, spending on public services including education, health and defence has increased by more than 20 per cent, while measured output has risen by 14 per cent over the same period.\n\nThe ONS has also revised previous productivity estimates.\n\nThe statistics body now estimates public sector productivity grew by 0.8 per cent in 2023, compared with the previously reported 0.9 per cent.\n\nRevised data also shows productivity remained flat in 2024, instead of the previously estimated 0.3 per cent growth.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe updated figures suggest public sector productivity remains below pre-pandemic levels, according to ONS analysis.\n\nAndrew Goodwin, chief UK economist at Oxford Economics, said: \"It seems to be a widespread issue — it is not that any one particular part of the public sector is dragging down the average.\n\n\"It seems to be a general problem with the approach. That then becomes a management issue.\"\n\nMr Goodwin added: \"Part of the problem is a culture of believing there is lots of waste but it is not waste that is the issue, it is just inefficiency.\"\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * State pension compensation row escalates as MPs demand Waspi U-turn - 'wrong decision!'\n  * 'I’m 70 and live with five strangers' Retirees flock to flat sharing as pensions fail to cover rent\n  * Council tax loophole exposed as second-home owners dodge 100 per cent tax\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nPublic sector employment remains a significant part of the UK labour market.\n\nAround 6.2 million people currently work in the public sector, with NHS staff accounting for more than two million workers, compared with 1.6 million around a decade ago.\n\nIndustrial action pressures also remain across parts of the public workforce.\n\nJunior doctors voted this week to proceed with strike action, seeking a further 26 per cent pay rise on top of a 29 per cent increase already agreed across three years.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nChancellor Rachel Reeves said in the Government’s Spending Review: \"Make the public sector more productive and agile, to ensure that it operates more efficiently and at lower cost to the taxpayer while delivering high quality outcomes.\"\n\nThe Spending Review set out plans aimed at improving efficiency across public services alongside ongoing funding increases.\n\nMr Goodwin said: \"That is not sustainable for the longer term, particularly given the pressures on the public finances.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Rachel Reeves's record 7.9% public sector wages rises led to flat productivity growth"
}