UK labour market is changing as inflation squeezes real pay

Workforce has shrunk amid rising long-term sickness and it appears unemployment is growing again

• UK strike levels soar as public sector workers face worst pay squeeze

Jeremy Hunt was frank in his response to the latest official figures for the state of the UK labour market. High inflation, the chancellor said, was eroding the value of pay cheques. People's wages were not going as far as they should.

Hunt sought to pin the blame for a rising cost of living on Vladimir Putin, but while Russia's invasion of Ukraine has certainly given inflation an unwelcome boost since early this year the picture is more complex than that.