TORY Chancellor Jeremy Hunt must urgently boost public-sector pay to free Britain from its “economic doom loop,” the TUC warned today after official figures revealed flatlining growth.

The Office for National Statistics published estimates suggesting the economy registered zero growth in the final three months of 2022 as 40-year high double-digit inflation meant millions saw a hit to their take-home wages.

The data shows the nation narrowly avoided falling into recession — defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth — despite a sharp 0.5 per cent decline in December as tens of thousands of NHS staff, rail workers and others went on strike over pay, jobs and conditions.