UK employment growth driven by foreign nationals, figures show

Jobs data show workers face rising costs and static pay, and no indication of Brexit vote triggering exodus of EU labour

The vast majority of employment growth was driven by non-UK nationals in the final three months of 2016 compared with a year earlier, the latest official figures on the labour market revealed.

Of the 303,000 more people in work between October and December compared with a year earlier, 233,000 were non-UK nationals, taking the total to 3.48 million according to the Office for National Statistics. UK nationals working in Britain increased by 70,000 over the same period to 28.44 million.

Related: Missing wage rises give lie to picture of full employment | Larry Elliott

Encouraging labour market stats out today; record high employment rate and youth unemployment at its lowest level for more than 12 years