Bank of England rate setter Andrew Sentance weighed in against rises in UK minimum wages, saying that they may dent employment prospects in the wider economy. The National Minimum Wage has risen by 45 pct since 2001, over four times the increase in the consumer prices index and more than double the rate of growth of average earnings, he said in his inaugural speech since joining the 9-member Monetary Policy Committee. "This could have a negative impact on employment prospects and add to wage pressures in some sectors of the economy, exerting some upward pressure on the level of structural unemployment," Sentance said. He also noted that productivity growth in the UK is likely to continue in the 1.5-2.0 pct range. "So if the UK economy is to sustain its trend GDP growth rate from the previous decade, a continued strong contribution is needed from employment growth as well as productivity," he added. Turning to labour supply, he noted that the pool of workers had been swelled by inward migration from new EU accession countries. "If sustained, this pattern of migration could contribute an addition of up to half a percentage point per annum to the growth of labour supply and hence employment," he added. But there are uncertainties about future migration levels. On the one hand, migration levels may be under reported both now and in the future. On the other, the number of arrivals may well taper off, he said. If the pool of available workers does not rise or if productivity growth does not accelerate, UK GDP growth may well fall from the 2.8 pct rate seen over the past decade to something closer to 2 pct, he warned. Sentance pointed out that while the UK jobless rate had dropped over the past decade, further falls may be hard to come by. The jobless rate fell to 5.0 pct over the last three years from around 8.7 pct in the mid-1990s. "We cannot expect a fall in unemployment of this sort to be repeated," he said.