NORTH West workers have suffered the biggest drop in their incomes over the last five years, with Blackburn being the hardest hit town in the country.

Since 2007, workers in the North West have suffered a huge squeeze on their incomes, with average pay falling by 8 per cent – a cash loss of £36.41 to employees working a 40-hour week.

The figures for Blackburn with Darwen show that the average full-time wage has fallen by 11.6 per cent for those working a 40 hour week meaning their pay packets are a massive £47.98 less than they were five years ago.

New analysis of official figures, published yesterday by the Trades Union Congress, compared hourly pay rates in 2007 (at 2012 prices) with those in 2012, to show the extent of the pay squeeze being felt by families across the UK as incomes fail to keep pace with rising cost of living prices.

The TUC analysis also shows that male workers have been hit harder than female employees. Men’s hourly pay rates drop by 9.8 per cent from £13.03 to £11.75 fall which works out at £51.11 less in their weekly pay packets in 2012 compared to 2007. Female employees saw their wages decline by 5.2 per cent in real terms over the five years, a loss of £20.91 for an average full-time worker on a 40-hour week.

TUC regional secretary for the North West Lynn Collins said: “Families throughout the region are feeling the real impact of job losses, pay freezes and short working, directly in their purses and wallets.

“We know that just meeting basic necessities like school uniforms for children starting back this week is proving ever more difficult.

“Austerity doesn’t work and the North West needs a pay rise urgently.”