This is among the key findings of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) from the Office for National Statistics, which provides a comprehensive resource of benchmarking information for pay practitioners.

Median hourly earnings excluding overtime are the government's preferred measure for calculating the gender pay gap. The 12.6% gap as at April 2007 is based on male hourly earnings of £11.96, compared with £10.46 for women. This is 0.2 percentage points down from the 12.8% gap recorded a year previously.

ONS ascribes this narrowing of the earnings gap to stronger growth in women’s earnings: over the year to April 2007, women’s hourly earnings excluding overtime rose by 3.1%, compared with 2.8% for men.

The 2007 ASHE data also reveal that median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees rose by 2.9% to £456.70 per week over the year to April 2007. By gender, the weekly earnings of women working full-time rose by 2.8% (to £394.00, compared with a 2.9% increase for men (to £498.30).

XpertHR’s official pay data pages (subscription required) will be updated later this month to provide easily accessible pay benchmarking resources, including detailed earnings breakdowns by occupation, industry sector and geographical region.