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mpc: 22 There had been little news over the past month from the labour market. The unemployment rate had been broadly stable in the three months to January on both the claimant count and Labour Force Survey measures. There had been some signs of an increase in labour demand, with employment around 127,000 higher in the three months to January than in the previous three months, the CIPS employment survey showing a rebound and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation survey pointing to a reduction in availability of staff. However, the Bank's regional Agents had noted reports of a weakening in the private sector employment growth expected over the next six months. Overall, the picture was consistent with output growth near trend. The one surprise had been the continuing sharp increase in average hours worked per head. The increase might simply have reflected the normal volatility of these data. If instead it reflected a temporary adjustment by employers unsure about the persistence of improvements in their own sales prospects, it was puzzling that there had not been a marked rise in overtime and that weekly earnings had not risen.