GROWING numbers of workers are needing NHS services after official figures today showed more adults are off-work due to illness, the TUC warned.

The statement came as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market figures showed wage growth fell to 6.1 per cent in the quarter to January — the slowest growth in more than a year.

Britain’s unemployment rate also rose unexpectedly to 3.9 per cent in signs of a cooling jobs market after the country slipped into recession at the end of last year.