LONDON — Britain's unemployment rate has dipped to 4.6 percent, the lowest level for 42 years, official data showed on Wednesday, three weeks before a general election. However wage growth has been weak, dampening expectations for a rise in the Bank of England's main interest rate any time soon. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent in the three months to the end of March from 4.7 percent in the quarter ending in February, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. "An astonishing rise in UK employment isn't enough to mask the fall in real wages," said ING bank economist James Smith. "This already appears to be dampening consumption, and is why we don't expect a UK rate hike before 2019."

Source: The China Post May 17, 2017 09:56 UTC