BOE's Lombardelli does not rule out December rate hike, she tells the Guardian

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Bank of England Deputy Governor Clare Lombardelli said she would not rule out the possibility of voting for a rate hike in December, but added that she did not have enough information yet, in an interview with the Guardian published on Tuesday.

Lombardelli voted with the 8-1 majority last week to raise rates to 4% from 3.75%, the first rise since August 2023. She said at the time a further rate hike was likely to be needed in the near term, according to the minutes of the meeting.

“I think it depends what we see on the conflict and the energy prices and it depends what we see in the wider data and how all that fits together," Lombardelli told the Guardian, referring to the possibility of a further rate hike in December.

"But I wouldn’t rule it out. Equally, I don’t have enough information just yet.” 

Lombardelli said young people in Britain are bearing the brunt of a “low-gear economy” as employers hold back from hiring amid the fallout from the war in the Middle East.

“It’s what I call a low-gear economy. So a labour market where you’re seeing a real fall-off in hiring. But actually, we’re not seeing much in the way of redundancies. What’s going on is this kind of low-hire, low-fire dynamic,” she said.

Britain's jobs market cooled in October, with hiring for permanent roles falling for the first time in four months, according to a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG published on Monday, days after the Bank of England raised rates.

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)