Pound approaches 4-year high as unemployment drops

The pound Wednesday climbs close to a four-year high against the U.S. dollar after the British unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in the past five years, showing the country's economy growing steadily. The jobless rate declined to 6.9 percent in the quarter ending in February, down from 7.1 percent recorded from September to November 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Wednesday. The unemployment figure gave the pound upwards momentum. The pound reached 1.6818 against the U.S. dollar once on Wednesday, approaching the 1.6823 level set on Feb. 17, the highest since November 2009. Data released recently all showed that the economy is gaining momentum. CPI slowed to 1.6 percent in March, down from 1.7 percent in February, marking the lowest inflation level since October 2009, ONS reported Tuesday. EY ITEM Club, a London-based think tank, raised the British economic growth forecast for 2014 from 2.7 percent to 2.9 percent on Monday. The institution predicted that the Britain's central bank would enhance interest rate in the second half of 2014.