LONDON Britain's labour market looked much stronger than expected during the three months to April, according to data on Tuesday that will bolster bets that the Bank of England will continue raising interest rates this year.

The Office for National Statistics said wages excluding bonuses were 7.2% higher than a year earlier during the three months to April.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 6.9% rise on average.

The unemployment rate, which had been expected to rise to 4.0%, fell to 3.8% in the three months to April from 3.9% in the three months to March.

April's data are the first to include the impact of a 9.7% rise in the minimum wage, and will be closely analysed by the Bank of England as it tries to judge how lasting an effect Britain's recent spell of double-digit inflation has had.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, writing by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Sarah Young and Kate Holton)