LONDON (AP) — Official figures show Britain’sunemployment rate dropped slightly to 7.7 percent for
the three-monthperiod to August, further evidence that Europe’s third-largest economycontinues to
strengthen.The Office of National Statistics saidWednesday that the number of those out of work dropped 0.1
percentagepoints from the three-month period through May. In total, there were2.49 million unemployed people
aged 16 and over, down 18,000 from theprevious period.The unemployment rate is now a key economicindicator
for the Bank of England — under its new governor, Mark Carney,the bank has said it won’t consider raising
interest rates until thejobless rate drops to 7 percent.The bank’s main interest rate hasbeen at a record
low of 0.5 percent since March 2009. Policymakers havealso refrained from adding more stimulus, after having
pumped 375billion pounds ($600 billion) into the economy through a bond-buyingprogram.Chris Williamson, the
chief economist of Markit.com, saysWednesday’s figures add to evidence that a hike in interest rates
couldcome before 2016, when most analysts suggest the rate would be atCarney’s target."The worry is
that any hike in interest ratesbefore real incomes start to revive would set the economic recovery
backsignificantly, as rising demand for staff is still not feeding throughto higher wages," Williamson
said.He noted that pay growthcontinues to run well below inflation — which stands at 2.7
percent,"meaning incomes continue to fall in real terms, as they have donecontinually since
late-2009."Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.