P.M. BRIEFING : Bank of England Cuts Loan Rate

LONDON —  The Bank of England cut its key overnight lending rate to 13.5% from 14% today, and several major banks quickly followed suit. “That is a strong signal from the Bank of England that we expect interest rates to fall by (half a percentage point),” a bank spokesman said.

Several banks, including Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and Midland quickly announced that they were reducing their base lending rates to 13.5%. But there was no immediate move by building societies to cut home mortgage lending rates.

The British government has been under increasing pressure to cut interest rates amid a flurry of layoff announcements by industry and continuing high unemployment.