Last week brought a surprise from the Bank of England when it did not announce plans to extend its quantitative easing programme. The £125bn asset purchase plan is due to be completed towards the end of the month and the consensus among analysts was for an extension of £15bn-£25bn, the minimum required to keep the QE programme active until the next monetary policy committee meeting in August.
That decision may assume more significance this week when UK unemployment data are published on Wednesday. June figures for the claimant count rate and level, plus the May figures for the International Labour Organisation rate, are due to be released. The consensus view is not to expect good news, with both rates forecast to increase by 20 basis points and an extra 42,000 people expected to have registered as unemployed during the month.
