Shawdesh desk:

UK wage growth failed to keep up with the rising cost of living between November and January, new figures show.

Wages rose, but when taking rising prices into account, regular pay showed a 1% fall from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said.

It comes amid concerns that war in Ukraine will push up households’ energy and food bills even further.

The new figures also show that the number of jobless people in the UK has dropped below pre-pandemic levels.

The ONS said there were 1.34 million unemployed in the three months to January, below the 1.36 million recorded in December to February 2020.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in the most recent quarter, while job vacancies hit another record high.