Sterling slides as wage forecasts hit rate rise talk

UK unemployment dropped to a near six-year low but sterling has fallen against the dollar after the Bank of England cut wage forecasts, suggesting rates will remain on hold for the foreseeable future.

Office for National Statistics data for April to June, released today, showed the unemployment rate reached 6.4%, down from 6.5% in May. This is the lowest it has been since late 2008. There were 2.08 million unemployed people in the UK in June, 132,000 fewer than for January to March 2014, and 437,000 fewer than a year earlier. However, average wages including bonuses fell 0.2% in the year to June. Excluding bonuses, wages rose by just 0.6% in the year, the lowest rise on record. The ONS said average wage rises were affected by an unusually high number of employees deferring bo...