UK unemployment falls to 5.5% as wage growth rises above 2%

Wage increase may prompt Bank of England to bring forward interest rate rise from 2016 to later this year, analysts say

Britain's consumer-led recovery should extend into the summer after wage growth jumped above 2% and unemployment fell in March, according to official figures.

The pound jumped more than a cent against the dollar after the news. Analysts said the rise in wages could push the Bank of England to bring forward its first interest rate rise since 2007 to later this year, rather than in 2016.