Bank of England Live: Interest rates held in first unanimous vote in eight years

Welcome back to City AM‘s ongoing coverage of the interest rates decision.

Interest rates have been held as rate-setters at the Bank of England warned the war in Iran could send prices spiralling as soon as April. 

In the first totally unanimous vote in eight years, all members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to hold rates at 3.75 per cent.

Markets – and City AM’s own shadow monetary policy committee – were expecting the Bank to hold rates at 3.75 per cent.

The Bank highlighted their concerns around rising oil and gas prices, which could feed into spiralling inflation over the coming months.

Economists across the City had forecast the MPC would adopt a “dovish ‘wait-and-see’ approach”.

Edward Allenby, senior UK economist for Oxford Economics, said “the conflict in the Middle East has thrown a spanner in the works”.

Policymakers will also have been left alarmed by fresh job figures this morning showing the UK’s unemployment rate still being stuck at 5.2 per cent – a near five-year high.

Vacancies also fell on the month while wage growth eased by more than expected.

We’ll be bringing you the latest on today’s decision and all the market analysis.

Here’s a few of our top stories from yesterday.

• Ex-Google executive puts AI hiring under scrutiny
• Sir James Dyson buys 50 per cent stake in top flight English sport club
• ‘Panic mode’: FTSE 100 sinks as oil spikes on Iran’s energy threats
• MPs urge government to escape ‘regulation by default’
• Burnham backs England bid to host Ryder Cup for first time in three decades
• Greene King to put 150 pubs on chopping block