Labor & Economic News Blog

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Foreign Briefs : Jobless Claims Rise in Britain

Foreign Briefs : Jobless Claims Rise in Britain
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Britain’s unemployment rose the fastest in more than four years in July as factories shed workers and migrants swelled the work force. The number of people claiming benefits rose by 2,000 from June, to 957,000, the most since January 2002, the Office for National Statistics said. The jobless rate held at 3 percent for a fifth month, in line with economists’ forecasts. The gain in unemployment prompted one of the Bank of England’s seven policy makers, David G. Blanchflower, to vote against this month’s interest rate increase to 4.75 percent, according to published minutes of the meeting. Investors are betting on one more rate increase before the end of the year after inflation held above the bank’s 2 percent target for a third month in July. “The rise in unemployment is strong evidence of ample spare capacity in the U.K. economy, and should over the medium term restrain pay growth,” said Gavin Redknap, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in London.’’.

 



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