Median real-term pay for full-time employees fell by 2.6% in the year to April 2022, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
While weekly wages rose by 5.0% between April 2021 (£610) and April 2022 (£640), soaring inflation saw real terms pay drop.
The consumer price index, including housing costs (CPIH), had an annual rate of 7.8% in April 2022.
Median weekly earnings for full-time employees increased across almost all sector-level industries. Most significantly, the accommodation and food service sector saw wages increase by 18.7%.
However, this large jump in median earnings can be largely attributed to the high furlough rate and loss of pay that these industries experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lower-paying occupations, in particular, saw a significant pay increase. Process, plant and machine operatives' wages were up by 8.6%, while elementary occupations rose by 6.9%.
Meanwhile, professional occupations saw a much smaller median wage increase of 2.4%.
However, the ONS urged users to consider the Covid-19 pandemic's effects on earnings:
"Over the coronavirus pandemic period, earnings estimates were affected by changes in the composition of the workforce and the impact of furlough, making interpretation difficult.
"We would encourage users to focus on long-term trends rather than year-on-year changes."
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