A government survey says that average full-time earnings in the Isle of Man have risen by 2 per cent in the last 12 months.
It says that average gross weekly pay of full-time employees in the sample was £672, taking into account overtime, shift premiums and bonus payments.
The statistics were compiled and published by the economic affairs division of the Cabinet Office and is a snapshot of earnings in June 2015 based on a random sample of employees drawn from income tax records.
Median pay, the pay of the middle person had the entire population been lined up from highest to lowest, decreased 2.5 per cent to £536.
Since ‘average’ pay includes the distorting effect of the very rich, the difference between average and median pay is an indication that the gap between rich and poor is growing.
Other headline statistics from the earnings survey include:
· Overtime, incentive pay and shift premia made up 6.6 per cent of employees’ gross weekly earnings.
· Average earnings in the Isle of Man were 10 per cent higher than those in the UK, while median earnings were 5.6 per cent higher in the island than in the UK.
· Full-time employees worked an average of 37.1 hours per week, including 0.6 hours of overtime.
One figure that leaps out is the change in average pay for non-manual male workers. That has leapt by 9.4 per cent from £851 to £931 in 12 months. Median rose 2.4 per cent from £679 to £695.
For women, the change is only 0.6 per cent, rising on average from £598 to £601. The median figures are a drop of £554 to £508, a fall of 8.3 per cent.
Women in manual jobs have seen a drop in pay from £373 to £370 (average pay), while male manual workers saw their income rise from £485 to £498 (average).
Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK said the survey provided further evidence of the strength of the Manx economy. However, he added that government would continue to help lower paid and vulnerable members of the community.
Mr Bell said: ‘This government maintains a strong focus on economic growth and job creation. The £50 million Enterprise Development Fund is an example of the positive action being taken to stimulate new opportunities.
‘Investment in education and training is also helping to equip our young people with the skills required to take up well-paid careers in sectors such as e-business and high-tech manufacturing.’
He added: ‘While the survey highlights the good employment prospects and earnings potential on offer in the Isle of Man, I recognise that the figures will provide little comfort to people earning much less than the average figure. To help those on lower pay, we have increased the minimum wage in the Isle of Man and are progressing proposals announced in this year’s Budget to lift more than 2,000 people out of the tax net.’
So how accurate are the figures?
The survey says: ‘The earnings from which the average earnings are derived were obtained from a sample of employees.
‘Consequently, the averages and other estimates are subject to sampling errors. For example, the estimates of average earnings given in the tables may differ from the true average which would have been calculated if earnings information had been obtained for every employee in the Isle of Man.
‘A measure of the potential size of the difference is provided by the standard error. There is a two-out-of-three chance that the difference between the true value and the estimate will be less than the standard error and the chance that the difference will be more than double the standard error is about one-in-20.
‘In other words, we can say with 95% probability that the true level of average earnings will be in the range £640 to £704 (mean £672).’
The Isle of Man Earnings Survey 2015 is published on the government website {http://www.gov.im/categories/working-in-the-isle-of-man/earnings/|here}/.