Wages failing to keep pace with price rises for 15th month in a row

REAL pay fell for the 15th month in a row, official figures revealed today, as sky-high inflation continued its squeeze on living standards.

- David Bond and Jonathan Prynn

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that regular pay — which excludes bonuses — fell by 2.3 per cent in the three months between December last year and February, once adjusted for inflation.

Although economists expect the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation to fall from 10.4 per cent to 9.8 per cent when the latest monthly figures are released tomorrow, inflation has been above 10 per cent since August last year.

And while wages have been rising, they have failed to keep pace with prices. According to the latest ONS figures, regular pay grew by 6.6 per cent in the three months to February — a slight increase on the previous month.

The gap between private sector and public sector workers also narrowed with private sector pay up 6.9 per cent compared to public sector pay which increased by 5.3 per cent.