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| Bank of England still wary over raising rates | Bank of England still wary over raising rates |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Bank of England officials are wary of raising interest rates despite signs of stability in the UK recovery, meeting notes have shown. | Bank of England officials are wary of raising interest rates despite signs of stability in the UK recovery, meeting notes have shown. |
| The nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep rates at 0.5%, as expected. | The nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep rates at 0.5%, as expected. |
| They agreed that while "employment had continued to increase robustly... wage growth had been surprisingly weak". | They agreed that while "employment had continued to increase robustly... wage growth had been surprisingly weak". |
| Wage growth excluding bonuses slowed to a record low 0.7% in the three months to May. | Wage growth excluding bonuses slowed to a record low 0.7% in the three months to May. |
| The committee also said there might be a "modest slowing in output growth" in the second half of the year. | |
| The minutes read: "There were early signs that global growth was weakening, and an unexpected increase in interest rates when real wages were not yet rising could... destabilise the recovery. | |
| By Simon Jack, Business Correspondent, BBC News | |
| Some members are edging towards rate rises and the committee clearly feels that the economy could handle a rate rise. The committee said "the risk of a small rise in Bank rate derailing the expansion and leaving inflation below the target in the medium term was receding". | |
| Perhaps the most interesting section is on jobs and wages. | |
| The committee said it had been surprised by very weak wage growth (0.7%) and noted that half a percent of the recent fall was because recent job creation has been concentrated in low skilled, low paid jobs. | |
| The minutes also noted that changes to the benefits system and an increase in people working past retirement age had increased the supply of labour - keeping the cost of labour down. | |
| "The committee agreed that no increase was warranted at this meeting, although for some members the decision had become more balanced in the past few months than earlier in the year". | |
| The Bank's Governor Mark Carney said last week he did not know exactly when interest rates would start to rise, although in June he suggested they could rise sooner than financial markets expected. Most commentators took this to mean a rise later this year. | |
| Later in the same month. Mr Carney told the BBC: "When we raise interest rates we expect to do so in a gradual and limited fashion." | |
| Interest rates in the UK have been at 0.5% for five years. | Interest rates in the UK have been at 0.5% for five years. |