Real wages plunge at record rate as cost-of-living crisis takes hold

Bankers toast huge bonuses and average pay rise of 10.6 per cent as nurses and teachers see value of earnings fall sharply

Unemployment is approaching a 50-year low but wages are falling behind inflation (EPA)

Real pay has fallen at a record rate, with public sector workers seeing a particularly big hit to their earnings while bankers toasted “extremely high” bonuses, official figures show.

Public sector workers saw their wages rise 1.5 per cent in the three months to April compared with a year earlier. Prices have risen much faster, with the current inflation rate at 9 per cent.

Workers in the private sector saw an average pay rise of 8 per cent over the period, the Office for National Statistics said.