Catherine Reynolds 

Investing.com – The U.K. labor force continued to grow in October following the termination of the government’s furlough programme. It makes it easier for Bank of England to increase interest rates, if necessary. 

The three-month period ending October saw a 149,000 increase in sales, compared to the preceding three months. These figures were released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics.  This was lower than expected at 228,000. This was a decline of 49,800, compared to the September decrease of 14,900.

U.K.’s employment rate increased 0.2% over the quarter before and was just 1.1% below its level prior to the Covid pandemic. Unemployment was estimated by the ONS at 4.2% of the workforce for the period, 0.4% lower than the previous quarter’s figures. The economy’s total hours were up, but still below the pre-coronavirus level.

With the lifting of Covid restrictions, U.K. employment numbers have increased. But fears are rising that Boris Johnson’s government will reimpose steadily harsher restrictions to deal with the fresh wave of Covid-19 infections and potentially stall the economic recovery.

Inflation has led to speculations that the Bank of England will soon raise its interest rates.

“My instinct is still that the Bank of England will raise interest rates in early ’22,” said Chris Bailey, an analyst with Financial Orbit via Twitter (NYSE:). “They should do it this week but undoubtedly will choose not to,” he added.