LONDON—The Bank of England kept interest rates on hold on Thursday, dashing investors’ expectations for a hike that would have made it the first of the world’s big central banks to raise borrowing costs after the COVID-19 pandemic. The BoE kept alive the prospect of a move soon, saying it would probably have to raise Bank Rate from its all-time low of 0.1 percent “over coming months” if the economy performed as expected. But seven of its nine policymakers voted to leave rates unchanged for now so they can see how many people are unemployed after the recent end of the government’s job furlough scheme. Governor Andrew Bailey said two scheduled labour market data releases between now and the BoE’s next interest rate decision on Dec. 16 could clear up that uncertainty. “But let me caution that by (saying) please do not therefore assume that I’m giving you a strong …