On The Money: US workers see highest wage growth since 2008 | Fed releases plan to loosen rules for major US banks | GOP chair criticizes UK tech tax | US drops in World Bank’s list of best places to do business

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THE BIG DEAL—US workers see highest wage growth since 2008: Pay for U.S. workers increased 0.9 percent from July to September, bumping yearly earnings growth to the highest level since the 2008 recession.

Wages and salaries for American workers in the private sector rose 0.8 percent over the past three months, while state and local government workers saw 0.9 percent more pay since July, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The uptick exceeded expectations from analysts and outpaced the 0.5-percent gain in pay between April and June of 2018. Wages and salaries have increased 2.9 percent on the year since September 2017, the fastest rate since September 2008. I break down the numbers here.

What comes next: The ADP national employment report, also released Wednesday, showed private businesses adding 227,000 jobs in October, beating economists’ expectations for an increase of 189,000. The Labor Department will release its jobs report on Friday.

LEADING THE DAY

Fed releases plan to loosen rules for major US banks: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released a proposal to loosen rules on U.S. banks with less than $700 billion in assets, exempting dozens of firms from stricter federal oversight under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

The Fed’s proposal would create four tiers of regulation tailored to the size of a U.S. bank and its international operations. The plan does not reduce rules for the nine largest American firms, considered “globally systemically important banks” (GSIBs), but eases capital, liquidity and stress-testing requirements for some regional powerhouses.

The proposed rollback, eagerly awaited by the financial sector, comes five months after President Trump signed a bipartisan bill directing the Fed to loosen rules on banks with less than $250 billion in assets and consider looser oversight for firms above that threshold. I’ll walk you through the plan here.

Reactions:

• “The effect of our proposals is a significant and tailored reduction in compliance burdens, while maintaining the gains we have made in building a safer and more resilient financial system.” — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

• “This raises the risk that American taxpayers again will be on the hook.” — Fed Governor Lael Brainard

• “I wish the proposal went further, but it represents a much-need tailored approach to regulatory supervision.” — Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

• “Deregulating some of the largest banks in the country will make the financial system less safe, less stable and less protected from another crash.” — Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets.

• “It does not do enough to tailor regulations based on banks’ risk profiles.” — Greg Baer, president and CEO of the Bank Policy Institute.

US drops two spots in World Bank’s ranking of best places to do business: The U.S. dropped two spots in the World Bank’s annual ranking of the best places to do business in the world.

According to The Wall Street Journal, America fell to eighth place in the ranking, which measures the ease with which people can do business in a given country.

The U.S. scored 54th on its process of getting electricity and 50th on protections for small shareholders in businesses.

It also received poor marks for its 15-day process of registering property at 38th place and for its difficulty in paying taxes at 37th. While the U.S. dropped slightly, the top three ranked countries – New Zealand, Singapore, and Denmark – held their spots for the third year in a row. The Hill’s Megan Keller tells us more here.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) accused the Commerce Department of giving numerous exemptions to the steel tariffs to U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies.
• House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) on Wednesday criticized the United Kingdom’s plans for a digital services tax, arguing that the tax would unfairly target American technology companies.
• A U.S. company is lobbying Congress and the Trump administration to intervene in a business dispute with the government of Angola.
• The Independent Community Bankers of America announced the launch of the ICBA ThinkTech Accelerator, a fintech accelerator program for community banks.
• The most competitive districts in the race for control of the House are disproportionately wealthy and their economies aren’t doing much to lift Republicans, according to the New York Times.
• McClatchy explores whether farmers hit hard by Trump’s tariffs will revolt on election day.
• The Treasury Department estimates it will issue more than $1 trillion in debt this year as higher government spending and sluggish tax revenues push the deficit higher, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the U.S. is taking on too much debt right now.

ODDS AND ENDS

• AT&T won’t rule out making future donations to Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) after growing backlash to his history of racist remarks.
• The Japanese telecom giant SoftBank has hired a public relations veteran to beef up its communications department as it fights for approval for its subsidiary Sprint to merge with T-Mobile and amid scrutiny of the firm’s ties with Saudi Arabia.
• PwC just released its first Digital Trust Insights report, a survey of 3000 business leaders of how they’re aiming to snuff out cybersecurity threats.