Pound Falls on BOE Growth Outlook; Gilt Yield Falls to Record

The pound weakened versus the dollar as the Bank of England said Britain faces a “markedly weaker” outlook for economic growth, signaling it may expand stimulus.

U.K. 10-year gilt yields fell to a record after data showed U.K. unemployment rose in the three months through September and joblessness among young people climbed above 1 million for the first time since at least 1992. Growth may be “broadly flat” in the first half of 2012, central bank Governor Mervyn King said in a press conference after the quarterly Inflation Report. “There is no meaningful way to quantify the most extreme outcomes associated with developments in the euro area,” he said.