London — British businesses are struggling to fill in vacancies because of a drop in the supply of European Union citizens after the Brexit vote. According to a report on a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the growth of EU citizens in employment halved to just 30,000 in the final quarter of 2016. The latest figures showed there were about 2.26-million other EU citizens working in Britain. "The survey data ... suggest that a fall in the supply of EU nationals may heighten recruitment difficulties in the year ahead," the institute said in its labour-market report issued on Monday. Job vacancies in the UK economy remained well above historical averages. The report said a fall in the supply of EU citizens would hit low-skilled sectors such as wholesale, retail, accommodation and food services as well as human health and social work, which employs many EU workers. More than 1,000 employers were polled for the survey. British Prime Minister Theresa May is du...

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