Government figures show that, on average, women workers are getting a better pay deal in the Isle of Man than in the UK.

And that helps put the average Manx weekly earnings slightly ahead.

However the gap between public and private sector wages continues to weigh in favour of public sector workers.

The Isle of Man figures come from June and the UK figures from April but they show that the average weekly wage for Manx men was ?588, and that lags some 3% behind UK men.

But Manx women, though on average earning considerably less than men in the Island, are still some 8% ahead of women in the UK.

In a Private/Public sector comparison, the average in the Manx Private sector is ?528 a week, and that lines up against an average of ?600 in the Public Sector.

In addition, on average, Private sector workers also work two hours a week longer.

In the Island, average pay went up 2.8% to ?551 per week in June last year, a match for the UK.