WAGES have gone up by 5.4% but a boost to pay packets still fails to keep pace with inflation under a cost of living crunch.

The average total pay went up by 5.4% between December 2021 to February, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Families are facing a squeeze on wages as the cost of living crisis continues

1

Families are facing a squeeze on wages as the cost of living crisis continuesCredit: PA

Regular pay growth – which excludes bonuses – went up 4% over the same period.

But that has still failed to keep pace with soaring inflation, which has hit 6.2% – a high not seen in decades.

The ONS said with this in mind, real terms growth in total pay was 0.4%, while regular pay fell by 1%.

It added that “strong bonus” payments was the main driver behind the growth in total pay.

It means that wages still have not increased enough to meet soaring bills from clothes and food to fuel and energy.

Meanwhile, the UK’s unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. with the number of job vacancies reaching a record high to 1.29million.

The number of workers on payrolls also went up by 35,000 in March to 29.6million.

But ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said that

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