The Bank of England on Thursday left its key interest rate at 0.5%, meeting widely held expectations. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to make no changes in policy, a decision that comes as inflation has slowed to a 2.7% rate but is still above the bank's 2% target. "The firming of shorter-term measures of wage growth in recent quarters and a range of survey indicators suggest pay growth will rise further in response to the tightening labour market. This provides increasing confidence that growth in wages and unit labour costs will pick up to target-consistent rates," the bank said in a statement. The size of the bank's asset purchase program was held at £435 billion ($615 billion) and the corporate-bond purchase program was left at £10 billion. The pound GBPUSD, -0.0212% jumped to $1.4217 from $1.4166 before the decision. Sterling late Wednesday traded at $1.4140.