The pay squeeze on British households has intensified, with wage growth continuing to lag behind inflation despite the unemployment rate hitting a 42-year low.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said annual average weekly earnings grew by 1.8% in the three months to May, and 2% when bonuses are stripped out.
Once inflation is taken into account, total pay in real terms sank by 0.7% to its lowest level since the summer of 2014 and fell 0.5% excluding bonuses over the three-month period.
It comes as the cost of living marched to its highest level in nearly four years at 2.9% in May, with the Bank of England expecting inflation to peak at 3% by the autumn.
Despite the gloomy update for consumers, the jobs market remained a bright spot for the UK economy, with the unemployment rate falling to its lowest level since 1975 at 4.5%.
Unemployment dropped by 64,000 to 1.49 million in the three months to May - a 12-year low.
Matt Hughes, ONS senior statistician, said: "The general picture is little changed on last month, with the overall employment rate and that for women both at record highs, the inactivity rate at a joint record low and the unemployment rate falling to its lowest since early summer 1975.
"Despite the strong jobs picture, however, there has been another real-terms fall in total earnings, with the growth in weekly wages low and inflation still rising."
Soaring inflation triggered by the Brexit-hit pound has put household spending power under sustained pressure since the start of the year, causing disposable incomes to fall and the amount spent on credit cards to increase.
The rate at which people are setting aside money for savings has also sunk to record lows, suggesting consumers are raiding their nest eggs in order to keep spending.
The ONS said employment climbed to around 32 million, a rise of 324,000 compared with last year and the largest total since records began in 1971.
The employment rate rose by 0.3% on the quarter to a record high of 74.9%.
Those classed as economically inactive fell by 57,000 in the three months to May to 8.83 million, while the number of people on the so-called claimant count increased by 5,900 last month to 814,500.
Employment Minister Damian Hinds said the strong economy was giving record numbers of people the chance to find and stay in work.
He said: "Unemployment is low, employment is high and there are over three quarters of a million vacancies.
"This is great news for Britain and for millions of ordinary working families."
The pound was 0.3% higher against the US dollar at 1.288 and 0.8% ahead versus the euro at 1.129 in afternoon trading following the announcement.
Howard Archer, EY ITEM Club's chief economic adviser, said the "anaemic" earnings growth would give Bank of England policymakers a reason to hold back on an interest rate rise.
The Bank's deputy governor Ben Broadbent said on Wednesday that he is "not ready" to raise interest rates due to too many "imponderables" in the economy.
Three out of eight Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members, Ian McCafferty, Kristin Forbes and Michael Saunders, unexpectedly voted to raise rates to 0.5% earlier this month from their record low of 0.25%, due to concerns over rising inflation.
Helen Barnard, head of analysis at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), said: "Britain's employment has climbed ever higher and it is encouraging to see more people in work.
"Yet the number of people struggling to make ends meet despite being in work has also increased.
"In real terms earnings are no better than they were 12 years ago: total pay in real terms is the same as it was in August 2005.
"With benefits and tax credits frozen, there is little respite for families just about managing."