Investing.com - The pound fell against the dollar on Wednesday after the minutes of the Bank of England’s January meeting showed a unanimous vote to keep rates on hold for the first time since July, while the latest U.K. employment report showed that wage growth outstripped inflation for a third straight month.
GBP/USD was down 0.29% to 1.5098 from 1.5148 ahead of the reports, not far from the 17-month trough of 1.5033 reached on January 8.
The drop in the pound came after this month’s minutes of the BoE meeting showed all nine members were in favor of keeping rates on hold at 0.5% after policymakers Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty dropped their vote for a rate hike.
The annual rate of inflation in the U.K. fell to 0.5% last month, the lowest level in over 14 years and well below the BoE’s target of 2%.
The move saw investors push back expectations for the first hike in U.K. borrowing costs to early 2016 from late 2015 before the minutes.
At the same time, official data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate fell to a more than six-year low of 5.8% in the three months to November, from 6.0% in the preceding three months and better than forecasts of 5.9%.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in December fell by 29,700 compared to expectations for a decline of 25,000 people.
Average earnings, including bonuses, rose 1.7% in the three months to November, meeting forecasts, after increasing by 1.4% in the August-to-October period.
Excluding bonuses, wages rose by 1.8% in the September-to-November period, up from 1.6% in the three months to October.
Elsewhere, the pound was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP advancing 0.49% to 0.7663 from 0.7640 earlier.