Fuel and travel costs are pushing prices up again
Thursday 5 November 2026
Inflation has risen to 3.1%, meaning everyday spending is getting more expensive just as household budgets are already under pressure.
Labour share of income
The share of income generated in an economy that goes to people for their work.
What it means
When businesses produce goods and services, some of the income generated goes to workers, while other parts go to business owners or cover other costs. The labour share measures the portion going to work: employee pay and employer contributions such as pensions, plus an estimate for the work done by self-employed people in many measures. That self-employed part must be estimated because their income can mix payment for work with returns from owning a business. The precise calculation varies, so compare figures built the same way.
Example
Suppose a made-up set of businesses generates £100 million of income counted in a labour-share measure, and £60 million is counted as pay and other income for work. Its labour share is 60%. That does not say each worker receives 60% of their own employer's sales.
Why it matters
It helps show whether a larger or smaller part of the income generated by production goes to workers as a group.
Also known as
labour income share
Related terms
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Collective bargaining
Workers' representatives and an employer negotiating pay or working conditions for a group.
Read more -
Gross value added (GVA)
The value a business or industry adds by making goods or providing services, after subtracting what it bought from other businesses to do so.
Read more -
Income inequality
The gap between people or households in the money they receive.
Read more -
Labour productivity
The amount of goods and services produced for each hour worked, or for each worker.
Read more -
Real wages
Pay measured by what it can buy after allowing for changes in prices.
Read more
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Guides and insights
Analysis
Clear, accessible analysis of the economic issues shaping everyday life
Living standards
What does a day’s work buy?
Comparing the cost of everyday life across generations, from bread and beer to buying a home.
Food & prices
The journey behind your grocery bill
How farming, energy, transport and supermarket competition shape the price on the shelf.
Prices & inflation
Inflation is falling. What happens next?
What slower price rises mean for wages, purchasing power and economic recovery.
Shared prosperity
What would shared prosperity look like?
Beyond GDP: how we could measure economic success through security, opportunity and living standards.
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