Brexit was widely blamed today as the number of EU workers in the UK plummeted at the fastest rate for 20 YEARS.
There were 2.25 million EU nationals working in the UK from July to September, 132,000 fewer than a year earlier.
The Office for National Statistics said this was the largest yearly fall since records began in 1997.
ONS experts tried to calm talk of a "Brexodus" - stressing that the estimates do not measure flows of recent migrants to the UK.
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King's College London, pointed the finger at Brexit and warned of "significant negative impacts" for the NHS and social care.
"The prospect of Brexit has clearly made the UK a much less attractive place for Europeans to live and work," he declared.
The Resolution Foundation think tank warned the figures "show Britain's labour market is already changing" ahead of Brexit day on 29 March 2019.
Expert Stephen Clarke said: "Firms who employ a large share of migrant workers need to think now about adjusting to a lower migration environment, in terms of the workers they employ, what they produce and how they operate."
A sharp drop has been fuelled by a decrease from eight east European countries that joined the EU in 2004.
The figures show 881,000 of the EU workers employed in the UK in the latest quarter were citizens of the so-called EUA8 states, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
This was 154,000 fewer than in the equivalent period of last year.
The number of EUA8 employees is down by 173,000 compared with July-September 2016, just after the EU referendum, when it stood at a record level of more than a million.
It came despite a rise in the number of workers from the rest of the world.
There were 1.24 million non-EU nationals working in the UK in July to September, 34,000 more than 12 months earlier.
And the drop was not reflected in 14 other EU states.
There were 990,000 nationals of 14 long-term EU member states including Germany, Italy, Spain and France working in the UK, a slight increase on 986,000 a year earlier.
Ministers are preparing to finally unveil proposals for the post-Brexit immigration regime before the end of the year.
A white paper is expected to set out plans for a system which brings an end to free movement and prioritises higher-skilled workers.
But Lib Dem MP Ed Davey claimed: "Even before we’ve left the EU, we’re seeing a Brexodus that is bad for British businesses and especially bad for our public services."
Alp Mehmet, vice chairman of Migration Watch UK, said the figures were "good news".
Today's figures showed both unemployment and employment are on the rise.
Unemployment has increased by 21,000 to 1.38million but employment also rose by 23,000, to a record high of 32.4million.
ONS senior statistician Matt Hughes said: "The labour market is little changed on the previous three months, though still stronger than it was at this time last year.
"With faster wage growth and more subdued inflation, real earnings have picked up noticeably in the last few months.
"However, real wage growth is below the level seen in 2015, and real wages have not yet returned to their 2008 levels.
"The recent uptick in British nationals in work and the decline in workers from the so-called A8 Eastern European countries both seem to be accelerating."