Earnings are continuing to fall sharply in real terms amid surging living costs, figures from the UK jobs market showed today.
The March unemployment rate edged down to 3.7% and the Office for National Statistics said job vacancies outstripped the number of unemployed people for the first time.
Bonuses in construction and finance mean that total pay is growing faster than prices on average at 7%, but underlying regular earnings are continuing to fall sharply in real terms after annual growth in January to March of 4.2%.
