For a third month running, wage growth in the UK has slowed, despite employers hiring more workers during the same period.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that annual growth in average weekly earnings dropped to 3.2 per cent in the three months to the end of October 2019, which was down 0.3 per cent from a month earlier. 
In line with this data are figures on average weekly pay growth, which also dropped from 3.6 per cent to 3.5 per cent. The latest inflation rates suggest that prices are only growing by 1.3 per cent, which suggests that wages are still ahead of inflation for now. 
While wage growth has declined, unemployment in the UK has remained at 3.8 per cent as employers hired more workers in the run-up to Brexit. A record of 32.8 million people are in work in the UK, which is one of the highest levels since the mid-1970s. 
However, despite a lower rate of unemployment, job vacancies have fallen for 10 months in a row and are below 800,000 for the first time in two years.
This, along with a slowdown in wage growth, suggests a degree of caution amongst employers who are now waiting for news on a potential trade deal with the EU and other nations by the end of the year. 
Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, said more people were benefiting from rising wages and record-high employment. She said: “Six out of the nine UK regions have seen an increase in the number of people in work in the last year and I want to see it continue to rise in every part of the country.”