Brexit price hikes eat into wages growth in Britain

Inflation almost completely gnawed away the growth in pay of British workers during the three months to February, the clearest evidence yet that households are feeling the strain of rising prices as Brexit negotiations begin.

Inflation-adjusted pay growth inched up just 0.2% over the period, the weakest increase since mid-2014, official data showed. The figures drove home how households are grappling with rising prices in shops, exacerbated by sterling’s plunge that followed last year’s vote to leave the EU and by rising global oil prices. The unemployment rate in the period between December and February held steady at an almost 12-year low of 4.7%.

“Big picture remains a labour market with very strong employment plateauing at record highs... combined with a pay disaster,” Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation think tank, said on Twitter.