something to do with that. hello, wolverhampton! plus. from 'oh no, it isn't�*... to 'oh yes, it is!'. pantomime is back with a hang, with ticket sales at pre—pandemic highs. we'll hear from a top producer about the festive appeal. welcome to business today. in the uk, wages have risen for the first time in more than a year, according to the latest officialfigures. regular pay grew at a faster—than—expected annual pace of 5.2% between august and october, the office for national statistics said. wages are continuing to increase faster than the price of goods. analysts say the latest figures have reduced the chances of the bank of england cutting interest rates when it meets this week. this comes as businesses from jaguar land rover to amazon to defence giant bae — as well as trade union

leaders — will be in parliament to discuss britain's new employment rights bill. it is been billed by the government as the biggest upgrade to workers rights in a generation. thomas pugh, economist at leading audit, tax and consulting firm rsm uk. good to have you here, and let's — good to have you here, and let's start _ good to have you here, and let's start first of all with the — let's start first of all with the earnings figures. they are risinu. the earnings figures. they are rising- what _ the earnings figures. they are rising. what they _ the earnings figures. they are rising. what they tell - the earnings figures. they are rising. what they tell us - the earnings figures. they are | rising. what they tell us about the state of the jobs market particular in terms of what employers are having to pay staff? and i think you may have neutered yourself, thomas. we can hear you now. let me ask you the question again, what do these figures tell us about the state of the jobs market and our employer is going to have to pay more to their staff? you are exactly _ to pay more to their staff? you are exactly right _ to pay more to their staff? you are exactly right and _ to pay more to their staff? 7m, are exactly right and the

standout number was a rise in pay growth in some of that is due to the public sector pay deals that were made a few months ago that are starting to take effect but pay growth in the private sector was also really strong so that's good news if you are a worker but it does make things a bit trickier for the bank of england. because higher pay growth can lead to higher inflation and it means we won't get a cut in interest rates on thursday. that is the interesting application and one would assume it is not great if you're looking for a job because employers have had to raise salaries they will be less willing to take on new staff it cost them more to do so and that's why there is concern about the chancellors plans for the jobs market. concern about the chancellors plans for thejobs market. we plans for the “obs market. we have the plans for the jobs market. - have the employment data this morning which was pretty strong and not much sign of stopping a hiring before the budget but the budget came right at the end of october than we might see some weakness in november and certainly not the

unofficial data we look at is suggesting there will be some weakness in the jobs market and the official data we get is actually unreliable at the moment. the number of people that the ons is collecting data on has essentially collapsed summit we are flying blind on what is happening with the jobs market. what is happening with the “obs market. ~ . , . ., market. what is the clear indication. _ market. what is the clear indication. other- market. what is the clear indication. other than - market. what is the clear| indication. other than the anecdotal evidence or some rather limited numbers? how do we get a sense of what is actually happening out there for all of us?— for all of us? one way is we look at a — for all of us? one way is we look at a range _ for all of us? one way is we look at a range of— for all of us? one way is we look at a range of data - for all of us? one way is we i look at a range of data rather than looking at the official numbers, we look at the survey data. but it's the pay growth numbers that are much stronger and they are telling us that pay growth is rising strongly in the private sector, the jobs market is a little bit healthier than the survey data

is pointing to. i healthier than the survey data is pointing to.— is pointing to. i wonder where it leaves the _ is pointing to. i wonder where it leaves the uk _ is pointing to. i wonder where it leaves the uk in _ is pointing to. i wonder where it leaves the uk in terms - is pointing to. i wonder where it leaves the uk in terms of. it leaves the uk in terms of competitiveness. we know we are on the brink of trade wars between europe and china and the us and we are preparing for another trim presidency. so where does the pay day to leave the uk in terms of how competitive it is for businesses to operate here? i think it is worth bringing in some of the other things you talked about at the top. we have this employment rights bill coming in and general strong support for the bill and a level playing field but it does raise costs for businesses, especially those smaller firms with flexible workers so the risk is when you combine the rights bill with the big increase in minimum wage we know is coming through and with the increase in national insurance contributions and actually you are imposing quite a big increase in cost on employers

and in areas like leisure and hospitality that will make it very difficult for them to compete. very difficult for them to compete-— very difficult for them to compete. very difficult for them to comete. ., . ~ ., ., compete. good to talk to and i'm lad compete. good to talk to and i'm glad we _ compete. good to talk to and i'm glad we could _ compete. good to talk to and i'm glad we could hear - compete. good to talk to and i'm glad we could hear you. | compete. good to talk to and| i'm glad we could hear you. it was worth it. good to have you on the programme. in the us, tiktok has appealed to the supreme court to delay a law that would see it banned in america onjanuary 19th. that law was passed over concerns the chinese owned firm could pose a national security risk. meanwhile its chief executive is the latest tech boss to make his way to donald trump s florida residence mar—a—lago for talks. the president—elect — who returns to the white house on january 20th — could prove to be a �*trump card' for tiktok. as our north america technology correspondent lily jamali explains. this law calls on tiktok to be banned in the us unless its chinese parent company, bytedance, sells it to a us buyer. and executives there have made very clear they have absolutely no intention of doing that. this law was upheld earlier this month by a us appeals court.

tiktok and bytedance are now appealing to the us supreme court, and on monday, they even asked the supreme court to block the law on an emergency basis while they await an answer. donald trump is giving the platforms 170 million american users some hope. we'll take a look at tiktok. you know, i have a warm spot in my heart for tiktok because i won youth by 34 points. and there are those that say that tiktok has something to do with that. president—elect trump expressed a very similar sentiment as that one on the campaign trail. president—elect trump expressed a very similar sentiment as that one on the campaign trail. it is a departure from his stance back in 2020, when he was actually the one trying to ban tiktok here in the united states. now, tiktok ceo sho chu and many tiktok creators are celebrating trump's comments from monday. some of them actually make their livings off of the platform.

but the question remains how much legal leverage trump actually has. that is because google and apple are major players in this story as well. they run the app stores where most people go to download tiktok to their devices. and as long as this law remains on the books, those companies could face a legal risk no matter what trump thinks of tiktok. let's stay with tech — and trump — because the enthusiasm on wall street over his election has continued especially among technology investors. the nasdaq 100 closed at a new record high — and bitcoin continued its rise above $107,000 a coin. investors are betting on lower taxes and lighter regulation under trump — as well as a more supportive environment for crypto. and there was a big endorsement from japanese tech billionaire masayoshi son — who pledged to invest 100 billion dollars in al projects in the us.

ritika gupta reports from new york. softbank ceo masayoshi son announced a $100 billion investment in the us over the next four years. speaking at president elect donald trump's residence in mar—a—lago, florida, he said it could create 100,000 jobs in america focussed on al and related infrastructure. i would really like to celebrate the great victory of president trump, and my confidence level to the economy of the united states has tremendously increased with his victory. so because of that, i'm now excited to commit this $100 billion and 100,000 jobs. the investment is similar to one from december 2016, when son pledged a $50 billion investment in 50,000 jobs. it's unclear how manyjobs that commitment resulted in and how

softbank intends to fund the new investment, as the company has been rebuilding its finances since the failure of the office sharing start—up wework. yet the japanese internet and telecoms giant plans to complete the work before trump leaves office in 2029. the deal is a clear boon for trump, who has made the economy a centrepiece of his presidential campaign, and the news coincides with soaring investments in tech, as the nasdaq 100 and bitcoin reached fresh record highs on monday. after two and a half years — nearly 300 witnesses — and quarter of a million documents — the uk enquiry into the post office it scandal draws to a close today. one of country's biggest ever miscarriages ofjustice saw hundreds of people running post offices wrongly prosecuted for stealing money because of software accounting errors. bosses and workers representatives at volkswagen held talks late into the night on monday over cost cuts at the auto giant. unions are threatening

widespread strike action over vw�*s plans to close plants in germany for the first time in the firm's 80—year history. vw�*s being squeezed by fierce competition from chinese rivals and high costs. talks resume today china has extended visa—free entry for foreigners to 10 days, in order to increase the number of overseas tourists. the regulation is effective immediately. until now, foreigners transiting china to a third country could stay for a maximum of six days without a visa. the new rule applies to more than fifty countries, including the united states. it is that time of year when families in the uk may head to the theatre for a seasonal pantomime. the blend of well—loved fairy tales, celebrity cast and song and dance, not to mention camp humour, is a recipe that continues to sell. panto has had a rough few years with theatres closed because of the pandemic — but the business seems to be back with a bang. many producers are seeing record ticket sales. this is beauty and the beast at the wolverhampton

grand theatre. its producerm tim colegatem told me business is booming. the numbers that we've seen this year at the box office are unprecedented. i mean, the theatre here, the beautiful wolverhampton grand, where i am, is in its 130th year this year, and we had our birthday the other day while panto was on, and in very nearly all of those years there has been a panto, but we have not seen numbers like this in recent years in the modern age. for a long time. people have really getting back into the swing of live entertainment, and pantomime is probably the most, pronounced art form, i guess, that we have in british theatre. it's such a distinctly british tradition, and people can enjoy it from three years old to 103 years old, children and grandparents, and anywhere in between. we're very lucky to have had giants from gladiators here.

but notjust with the celebrities. we have returning artists tam ryan and ian adams, who are our dame and our comic. many theatres follow the same recipe, and a lot of people come back for for the entire company experience as well. so people that they recognise and they can trust to do a good job and entertain them. but also the west end cast that we have here and the talent that is on the stage, people know they're going to have a good time. and so celebrity is very important and i don't think that's going away. but i think it's becoming a whole lot more of a holistic experience for people. that is your business today. see you soon.

we are expecting the sentencing of ten—month—old sara sharif. last week they were found guilty of her murder after subjecting her to horrific suffering. that was more than two years. some of the details we will hear and have heard through the trial are just

terrible. she was hooded, burned, beaten, during a campaign of abuse. and that was before her body was found with dozens of injuries at the family home in woking in surrey last year. herfatherwho family home in woking in surrey last year. herfather who is 43 family home in woking in surrey last year. her father who is 43 and mother were found guilty of murder on wednesday. and her uncle who is 29 was convicted of causing or allowing a child's death. one senior officerfrom one senior officer from surrey police said in all his 30 year career he had never seen anything like it. there is the old bailey journalists gathering to cover the sentencing of this case which has become so no tory us. in the name of little sara sharif is one everybody

knows.