By Daniel Hunter
The latest Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's minutes suggest that UK unemployment and economic output are improving at a faster pace than expected.
Minutes from October's meeting show that prospects for the rest of 2013 are better than was forecast in August.
The minutes show that the MPC voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5%.
The MPC noted that business and consumer confidence continued to grow.
The UK unemployment rate is currently at 7.7%. In August, when the Bank unveiled its strategy of forward guidance, the rate stood at 7.8%.
At that time the Bank predicted it would take three years for the rate to fall to 7%, the rate at which it will start to consider interest rate rises.
"It now therefore seemed probable that unemployment would be lower, and output growth faster, in the second half of 2013 than expected at the time of the August Inflation Report," The October minutes said.
However, policymakers were divided about how fast productivity would pick up, and by extension, how fast unemployment would fall as the economy recovers.
"It was too soon to draw a firm conclusion from recent labour market outturns about the extent to which productivity would increase," the minutes said.
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