A massive gap between the best and worst-paid workers in Yorkshire and Humber is revealed in a survey today (MON).

Figures from recruitment agency Manpower show average pay for a full-time worker in Kirklees stands at £30,100 – placing the district 10th in a list of 21 local authority areas across the region.

Selby comes top with average pay at £32,600 followed by the East Riding of Yorkshire at £32,200 and Harrogate at £31,800.

But the average worker in Selby earns £8,000 more than the average worker living fewer than 40 miles away in Hull, which comes bottom of the table with £24,300.

Among West Yorkshire council areas, Leeds is seventh in the table with an average wage of £30,600 with Kirklees 10th on £30,100, Calderdale 13th (£28,500), and Wakefield and Bradford joint 19th (£27,000).

Manpower, which based its findings on the annual survey of hours and earnings by the Office of National Statistics, said average pay for a full-time worker in Yorkshire and Humber fell by 0.8% to £29,000 last year compared with a 0.6% increase to £33,500 across the UK as a whole.

Pay in the private sector fell by 1%, while public sector pay increased by 1% – despite continuing austerity measures.

Manpower operations manager Amanda White said: “Despite the current rhetoric around the Northern Powerhouse and the drive to make Yorkshire and the Humber thrive, pay in the region is heading in the wrong direction – and outside of Leeds many of our cities are lagging behind their counterparts elsewhere in the north of England.

“It’s vital our region creates more and better-paid private sector jobs, so investment is more urgent than ever.”

Full-time pay growth in the region’s manufacturing sector was well above the national average – reaching £31,200. In contrast, average pay in the service sector fell by 0.8%, to £28,200.

Manpower’s analysis also showed the pay gap between men and women in the region was narrowing. While men in full-time work still earn more than their female counterparts – £14.62 an hour against £13.09 – women saw their pay rise by 1.1% last year while men’s pay fell by 1.3%.