U.K. demand for workers rose at the fastest pace in 16 years last month, boosting pay growth and supporting the view among a Bank of England minority that it’s time to raise interest rates.
A job-vacancy index increased to 68.2, the highest since 1998, from 68 in July, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG said in a report in London today. Average starting salaries for permanent workers rose at a “strong” pace, they said.
The BOE’s nine-member policy committee divided in August, with Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale voting to increase the benchmark interest rate from a record low. They said a continued rapid fall in U.K. unemployment meant it was more likely that wage growth would pick up.
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