BUSINESS LIVE: Wage growth slows; Metro Bank fined £16.7m; AstraZeneca updates its guidance

Wage growth has fallen to its lowest level in more than two years, while Britain’s unemployment rate rose more than expected, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics said average regular income growth slowed again to 4.8 per cent in the three months to September, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous three months.

Bitcoin could be worth $100,000 in January as cryptocurrency investors pile in following Donald Trump’s landslide election victory.

The digital currency hit an all-time high yesterday, surpassing $89,000 for the first time, as a wave of “Trump trades” broke out in global markets.

Metro Bank has been fined almost £16.7 million after an investigation by the city watchdog found historic failings in the lender’s money laundering controls.

Between June 2016 and December 2020, Metro “failed to have adequate systems and controls” to properly monitor more than 60 million transactions worth more than £51 billion, the Financial Conduct Authority said.