Sterling fell slightly against most major currencies this morning after the Office of National Statistics reported higher-than-expected unemployment figures.
Though the number of unemployed fell quarter-on-quarter, the joblessness rate moved to 7.2% for the three months to December 2013, up from 7.1% for the three months to November 2013. The pound fell to $1.6677 against the dollar following the news, down from a near three-year high of $1.6725. In August 2013, Bank of England governor Mark Carney had linked interest rate rises to the unemployment rate, which then stood at 7.8%, saying the BoE would consider a rate rise when the figure fell below 7%. But the surprise rise, combined with CPI inflation falling below 2% yesterday for the ...
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