The average advertised salary has dropped 3.8 per cent in a year, down to £32,525 in March from £33,815 a year ago, according to research from job search engine Adzuna.
Despite the annualised drop, salaries have risen for the past four months but are considerably off their high of £34,695 seen in September 2014, the Telegraph reports.
The picture is not entirely bleak, according to Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, who said there is evidence of employers raising pay offers to attract top talent.
However, he added: “With inflation on the rise and wage growth stalling, workers are having to make their money stretch further. The minor monthly increases in salary and vacancies are not a lot to shout about but they may now be consistent and reliable enough to bring some confidence back into the labour market.”
Wages have been struggling to keep up with rising prices for years, with official data from the Office for National Statistics showing that pay was climbing at an annualised rate of 0.2 per cent in February, while the annual rate of inflation was 10 times that, at 2.3 per cent in April.
Graduates are one of the few sectors where salaries are going up at a rate close to inflation, increasing 2 per cent on the year to £24,429 for those with a freshly minted degree looking for their first job.
The next best sectors were accounting and finance and creative and design roles, each tied at a 0.6 per cent rise, to £37,425 and £31,545 respectively.
While wages may not offer much positive news, there is more work available, with Adzuna’s research revealing that the number of vacancies in the UK hit a four-month high last month, at 1,156,701. This equates to 0.45 people chasing each unfilled post.
Mr Monro added: “It’s good to see graduates swimming against the tide in terms of wage growth. Today’s graduates are tomorrow’s CEOs, so it is only right that the newly qualified get a step up into the job market.”
At the other end of the spectrum, social work jobs suffered a 12 per cent annual salary decrease.
