Despite rising unemployment in the UK, Bank of England committee member Catherine Green is advocating for maintaining current interest rates. Her reasoning stems from a belief that the worst labor market downturn has already occurred and anticipates businesses preparing for higher wage growth. Green’s comments follow official data revealing the unemployment rate reached 5% during the three months leading up to September, exceeding expectations of 4.9%. This marks the highest level since early 2021, triggering a surge in bets by traders predicting an upcoming cut from the Bank of England. Notably, while Green is considered one of the more hawkish members on the nine-person Monetary Policy Committee, her stance on current rates aligns with the majority decision to keep them unchanged last week alongside four other officials advocating for a 25 basis point rate cut. She characterized the current policy as not being ‘meaningfully restrictive’.