An important nugget here from Markit on the bad situation in the UK for workers. Annual wage growth is running far behind the rate of inflation, which means that on a "real" basis, workers are making less and less.
UK inflation running at 2.9% while regular pay grows at an average annual rate of just 0.9% http://t.co/b2YPJ1VaL5 pic.twitter.com/OV9VtfDzDd
— Markit Economics (@MarkitEconomics) July 16, 2013
It's worth noting that this is not the case in the US, where real wage growth in late 2011, and has turned positive.
FRED