"The main findings of this release are that employment continued to rise and unemployment continued to fall. These changes continue the general direction of movement since late 2011/early 2012."
- Office for National Statistics
Following the unexpected split in votes from MPC members in August, they decided to keep their opinions unchanged this month. The Bank of England's MPC voted 2-0-7 in favour of holding the main interest rate at 0.5%, while the vote for keeping asset purchases program at 375 billion pounds level was unanimous, according to the latest meeting minutes. The main Mark Carney's argument against changes was, as before, the wage growth. It increased to 0.6% in July from minus 0.1% a month before, including bonuses, however, remained well below the inflation level of 1.5%. As economy is supposed to advance further in upcoming quarters, the wage growth may also gain momentum in the nearest future. Meanwhile, the Bank of England expects the increase in salaries not to exceed 1.25% in 2014.
Ahead of the Scottish independence referendum, which is taking place on Thursday, good news were demonstrated by the labour market. A total number of jobless claims in the United Kingdom decreased 37,200 last month, comparing to the forecast of a 29,700 fall. Alongside, payrolls added 74,000 to hit the 30.6 million level, but part-time jobs accounted for the vast majority of an overall rise. Unemployment rate, in turn, slipped to 6.2% or 2.02 million people in three months to July, down from 6.4% in April-June. Therefore, the indicator reached its lowest point since 2008.
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