TWO members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise interest in August, the first time in three years policymakers have backed a rise.
The split decision is the first under governor Mark Carney's tenure.
Minutes of the last MPC meeting showed that Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale voted for a 25 basis point rise in interest rates.
These members noted that the continuing rapid fall in unemployment, alongside survey evidence of tightening in the labour market created a prospect that wage growth would pick up.
The MPC voted 7-2 to hold interest rates from their historic low of 0.5%.
The pound jumped in expectation of an earlier rate rise than first thought.
Sterling rose 0.20% against the US dollar to $1.66.
If follows official data on Tuesday which showed inflation fell to 1.6% in July.
It is the first time there has been a split on the MPC since July 2011.
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