Britain's workers are suffering the most protracted squeeze on their incomes since the long depression of the 1870s and are now well into their fourth year of falling real wages.

High inflation and stagnant pay for many workers mean that real wages have now fallen for 40 months, according to calculations by the TUC. It says that is the longest such stretch of financial pain since 1875 to 1878, when the world economy was mired in the so-called long depression.

The union group's calculations, based on Bank of England data, followed news on Tuesday that inflation rose to its highest level for more than a year in June. The consumer prices measure of inflation hit 2.9% and many economists expect it to push higher still in coming months posing a challenge for the new Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, and his fellow policymakers as they look for ways to boost Britain's fragile recovery while keeping a lid on living costs.

The TUC's general secretary, Frances O'Grady, said the rise was "further bad news for households and the wider economy" and mean pay, currently rising at an average annual 1.3%, had failed to keep pace with prices for more than three-and-a-half years.

"These figures expose once again the shallowness of our recovery. Without better jobs and decent pay rises we will not get sustainable growth," she said.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the biggest upward pressure on inflation came from petrol and diesel prices, which both rose by around a penny this June but fell in June 2012. There was also upward pressure from clothing prices after summer sales this year did not bring as many discounts as in 2012.

Economists say there is little prospect of wages outstripping inflation any time soon. TUC senior economist Duncan Weldon said: "At the very, very best it will be mid-2014 and even then it will take lots of time to make up the lost ground."