"Yet another strong set of labor-market figures, which on one hand is encouraging, but on the other makes the so-called productivity puzzle even more baffling"
- Nida Ali, an economist at the Ernst & Young ITEM Club
The number of unemployed people in the U.K. fell in the three months to August, as payrolls surged to the highest level since records began in 1971. The U.K. Office for National Statistics said the number of employed people surged 212,000 to 29.6 million in the third quarter of 2012, pushing the jobless rate down to 7.9% from 8.1%. At the same time, the number of people claiming jobless benefit fell 4,000 to 1.57 million last month.
"Yet another strong set of labor-market figures, which on one hand is encouraging, but on the other makes the so-called productivity puzzle even more baffling," said Nida Ali, an economist at the Ernst & Young ITEM Club in London. "It's likely that there will be some form of payback in the months ahead."
"Clearly the committee is fairly split on the effectiveness of existing QE, and therefore the case for doing more. We still expect more QE in November, but I very much doubt there will be a unanimous decision at the meeting," said Daivd Tinsley from BNP Paribas.
The FTSE 100 Index advanced 0.69 per cent to 5,910.91. The broader FTSE All-Share Index added 0.66 per cent to 3,085.24.
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