British Unemployment Number Beats Forecasts, Eyes on the Bank of England on Rates Hike

Employers in the United Kingdom hired more people in October after the end of government job protecting furlough scheme, potentially raising traders’ eye on the Bank of England to hike interest rate.

Unemployment rate in the U.K. fell to 4.3% for the three months to September from 4.5% earlier, beating forecast of 4.4%. The unemployment number hit the lowest since the three months to July 2020.

The Bank of England has close eyes on the condition of the labor market.

Reuters reported, “the Office for National Statistics said it was possible that people made redundant at the end of the furlough scheme would continue to appear as in work in the data for a few further months, while they worked out their notice period”.

However, the ONS said, “responses to our business survey suggest that the numbers made redundant was likely to be a small share of those still on furlough at the end of September 2021,”.

Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce said as reported by Reuters, the increase in payrolled employment suggested that the end of furlough did not have significant effect on the job market in October and demand for labor continued to surge.