The chart that shows the UK's 14-year 'economic disaster'

A leading economist has described the state of wage growth in the UK as an "economic disaster".

New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals wages have fallen for eight of the last 14 years in real terms.

Median weekly pay for full-time workers was £640 a week in year to April 2022, a drop of 2.6% compared to last year once adjusted for inflation.

For part-time workers, median weekly pay fell by 1.6% in real terms.

According to the ONS, this drop in real terms wages for both full-time and part-time workers is among the largest since 1997 when comparable records began.

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Referring to the chart below, Torsten Bell, director at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said: "What does an economic disaster look like? This light blue line.

"In eight out of the 14 years since 2009 real wages have actually fallen.

"Next year will almost certainly join that list. This used to basically never happen. Now it's the norm."

Consumer price index (CPI) inflation hit 10.1% in the 12 months to September, the highest figure for more than 40 years, with food inflation at 14.6%.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has criticised the government for presiding one of the biggest earnings squeezes "in modern history".

TUC analysis estimates that had pay risen in line with its pre-financial crisis trend, the average worker would be £181 a week better off today than in 2008.

"Pay packets are still worth less than 14 years ago. That is shameful," said TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady.

"The Conservatives have presided over the longest and harshest squeeze on earnings in modern history.

“This has left millions of families without a safety net as bills and prices have skyrocketed.

“If we don’t get pay rising across the economy, UK workers face two decades of lost living standards."

It comes as millions of Brits face a bleak winter amid the spiralling cost-of-living crisis.

On Thursday leading food bank charity the Trussell Trust said its has already used up its winter reserve stock after a surge in demand heading into autumn.

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According to the TUC, one in seven people in the UK are skipping meals or going without food.

And the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found 31.9 million people, or 60% of UK adults, are estimated to be finding it a "heavy burden" or "somewhat of a burden" keeping up with bills.

On Tuesday in his first address as prime minister outside Downing Street, Rishi Sunak said there were "difficult decisions to come" during the economic turmoil but promised to show "compassion".

Attention will now turn to the government's autumn statement on 17 November, when new chancellor Jeremy Hunt will lay out the government's tax and spending agenda for the coming year.

Watch: Rishi Sunak warns there are 'difficult decisions to come' amid cost of living crisis