Average wages grew at the fastest pace ever seen outside of the pandemic.
However, rising inflation meant that real incomes have yet to suffer one of the biggest contractions in history amid the cost of living crisis.
According to the Office for National Statistics, growth in average total regular pay excluding bonuses rose by 6.7% in the final three months of last year.
Average wages in the private sector rose 7.3% during the period, which is also the largest seen outside the pandemic.
However, in real terms, growth in total and regular pay fell over the year by 3.1% including bonuses and 2.5% for regular pay excluding bonuses.
It is among the biggest declines in growth since comparable records began in 2001.
The figures come as inflation stands at 10.5% and may force the Bank of England to continue its program of interest rate hikes to prevent higher costs from being embedded as wages struggle to keep pace with rising prices.
5 things to start the day
1) Hydrogen will be pumped into the main pipeline in 2025 | Fuel to be transported across the country on a 4,700-mile network as part of the race to go green
2) ‘Cable Cowboy’ takes stake in beleaguered Vodafone | The ‘opportunistic’ investment comes after the company’s share price fell to multi-year lows
3) Amazon workers to organize a week-long strike to pay wages | More than 350 staff are set to walk out of the UK retail giant’s longest ever strike
4) Toyota will build an electric Lexus flagship as it moves away from the hydrogen dream | The automaker says the “time is right” to introduce battery-powered cars
5) AI firm founder stole tech secrets and offered them to China, lawsuit claims | Zia Chishti allegedly took the source code when he left the company in 2021
What happened during the night
Tokyo stocks ended higher after gains on Wall Street, despite a lackluster Japanese GDP report and a wait-and-see mood ahead of US consumer price data.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to end at 27,602.77, while the broader Topix index rose 0.8% to 1,993.09.
Other Asian shares also rose, following a rally on Wall Street ahead of a key US inflation report, while the yen clawed back losses against a sluggish dollar as Japan appointed a new central bank governor in a closely watched decision.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%.
Chinese shares faltered, with the blue chips losing 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declining 0.2%.
Wall Street equities closed higher ahead of today’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report – key inflation data that will show whether price increases have slowed after the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 1.1% at 34,245.93. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent to 4,137.29, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5 percent to 11,891.79.
However, yields on the 10-year US Treasury fell amid investor optimism that the CPI release will signal a cooling of inflation, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue interest rates rise for much longer.
The FTSE 100 closed at a new high of 7,947.60, breaking a record for the third time this month. The pound rose to $1.21, compared to pounds 1.20 at the previous close.
