THE latest jobs and pay data shows that Britain’s economy is still in “the danger zone,” trade union leaders warned today as figures revealed that unemployment remains high.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average regular weekly earnings growth remained at 7.8 per cent in the three months to July.

Its latest data found that pay growth matched consumer prices index (CPI) inflation over the same period, meaning real wages did not fall for the first time since October 2021.

The ONS figures also showed that the rate of unemployment lifted to its highest level since July to September 2021, at 4.3 per cent in the three months to July.

This was up from 4.2 per cent in the previous three months, as the number of unemployed rose 159,000 quarter-on-quarter to 1.5 million.

It came as employment plunged by 207,000 quarter-on-quarter to 32.9 million in the three months to July — the steepest drop since the autumn of 2020.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt insisted it was “heartening to see the number of employees on payroll is still close to record highs and that our unemployment rate remains below many of our international peers.”

But TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that the government is “in denial” and that the Tories’ “lack of a credible economic plan is costing the country dear.”

He said: “Today’s pay and jobs figures show the UK economy is in the danger zone.

“Unemployment is up by nearly a quarter of a million over the last year.

“And while average pay has finally inched above inflation, real wages still falling across the public sector, retail, hospitality and construction.”

He said that if pay packets had been growing at pre-crisis levels, workers would be on average £14,700 better off.

“It’s little surprise that families are worried sick about paying their bills and keeping their jobs,” Mr Nowak said.

New analysis by the TUC, using CPI figures, shows that wages are still lower than they were in 2008 in many sectors.

The union body found that real pay growth across the year is flat across all employees, but is still falling in the public sector.

Real pay remains £18 per week lower than it was at the start of 2008, it said.

The only sector that has seen real pay growth since then is finance and business at £55 per week.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that the ONS data is “firm proof that collective bargaining with employers reaps rewards for working people, day in, day out.”

The union has secured over £400m through industrial disputes and hundreds of millions more through workplace negotiations in the last two years alone, she said.

“The stark reality is that millions of workers will still be looking at their payslips and wondering how they’re going to afford rising rents, mortgage payments and bills,” Ms Graham said.

“The battle to push up pay is far from over and we will continue to fight hard, because, as we’ve seen today — it works.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said the figures “lay bare 13 years of Conservative economic mismanagement.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak remains confident that inflation can be halved by the end of the year following the figures, Downing Street said.