Job vacancies sank to a three-year low in the run up to the Budget, official figures show, as bosses prepared for Rachel Reeves to announce a tax raid.

The estimated number of vacancies in the UK in the three months to October was 831,000, which was a decrease of 35,000 from May to July, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It was the lowest number of vacancies since the three months to May 2021.

It comes as bosses braced for an increase in their costs in the Chancellor’s Budget, which put up taxes by £40bn.

The number of foreign-born workers employed in the UK hit 7m for the first time between July and September, the ONS said. 

That represents an increase of 183,000 since Labour came to power, and is up by 1.2m, from 5.8m, since the eve of the pandemic.

Wages rose at the slowest pace in more than two years, with regular pay excluding bonuses dropping to 4.8pc in the three months to September.

It was slightly higher than the 4.7pc expected, while total pay including bonuses rose from 3.8pc to 4.3pc.

The rate of UK unemployment rose to 4.3pc in the three months to September, up from 4pc in the three months to August.

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