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BoE: Immigration 'good for economy'

Published On 5 January 2007 at 10:21:09

Immigration to the UK is not artificially depressing wages or driving up unemployment, a report from the Bank of England (BoE) has concluded.

Furthermore, the paper rejected the idea that immigrants only come to the UK from eastern Europe to claim benefits.

Instead the BoE concluded that migrants bring economic benefits for the country.

The bank aruged they help to curb inflation with a tendency to consume less than they produce and have lowered the "natural rate of unemployment" by encouraging the workforce to be more adaptable and mobile.

The report states: "The entry of recent A8 [accession] migrants appears to have improved the workings of the labour market, reduced wage and inflationary pressures," according to the BBC.

Furthermore, it concluded that the 0.8 per cent rise in unemployment recorded over the past 18 months is not the result of immigration from eastern Europe.

"It would seem likely that the UK could absorb a relatively small inflow of immigrants, by international standards," the report concluded. "It appears that it has already done so to a considerable degree."

 

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