LONDON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The basic pay of British people is now falling "noticeably in real terms," as pay raises have failed to keep up with the country's soaring inflation.

       Regular weekly pay - excluding bonuses - increased by 4 percent from December 2021 to February 2022, but fell one percent on the year when adjusted for inflation, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.

       Growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 5.4 percent among employees from December to February, but when adjusted for inflation the growth in total pay was only 0.4 percent.

       "While strong bonuses continue to mitigate the effects of rising prices on people's total earnings, basic pay is now falling noticeably in real terms," said Darren Morgan, ONS' director of economic statistics.

       This was despite the number of job vacancies in January to March rising to a new high of 1,288,000.

       Inflation in the United Kingdom has hit successive new highs in the past few months, moving ever-further away from the 2 percent target set by the central bank.

       The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 6.2 percent in the 12 months to February 2022, up from 5.5 percent in January, ONS figures showed last month.

       The Bank of England raised the benchmark interest rate to 0.75 percent in March for the third time since December, in an attempt to bring down soaring inflation. However, inflation is expected to rise even further in the coming months.

       "Today's statistics look backwards but it's what's to come that is concerning," warned Jonathan Boys, a labor market economist for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

       "The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) is forecasting that inflation could reach 8.7 percent this year. The big pay squeeze is still in the pipeline," said Boys.