• UK Unemployment Rate rises to 3.9% in quarter to January vs. 3.8% expected

Market news

12 March 2024

UK Unemployment Rate rises to 3.9% in quarter to January vs. 3.8% expected

  • The UK Unemployment Rate climbed to 3.9% in the quarter to January.
  • The Claimant Count Change for Britain arrived at 16.8K in January.
  • GBP/USD tests lows near 1.2800 after mixed UK jobs data.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate rose to 3.9% in three months to January, a tad higher than the 3.8% in December, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. The market expectations were for a 3.8% print in the reported period.

Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 16.8K in February when compared to a gain of 3.1K in January. The market forecast was for a 20.3K increase in the reported period.

The British Employment Change data for January arrived at -21K, as against a 72K rise in December.

Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 6.1% 3M YoY in January versus December’s 6.2% increase, missing the market expectations of a 6.2% growth.

Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus increased 5.6%  in the reported period, compared with a 5.8% increase in December and the expected 5.7% growth.

GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report

GBP/USD dropped to test 1.2800 on discouraging UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.05% lower on the day at 1.2805, as of writing.

Pound Sterling price today

The table below shows the percentage change of Pound Sterling (GBP) against listed major currencies today. Pound Sterling was the weakest against the Euro.

  USD EUR GBP CAD AUD JPY NZD CHF
USD   -0.06% 0.11% -0.04% -0.01% 0.43% 0.00% -0.04%
EUR 0.06%   0.15% 0.02% 0.04% 0.48% 0.04% 0.01%
GBP -0.11% -0.14%   -0.12% -0.09% 0.32% -0.08% -0.13%
CAD 0.04% -0.02% 0.12%   0.03% 0.45% 0.03% -0.01%
AUD 0.01% -0.06% 0.11% -0.03%   0.44% 0.00% -0.04%
JPY -0.42% -0.45% -0.30% -0.44% -0.42%   -0.39% -0.45%
NZD 0.00% -0.05% 0.09% -0.02% 0.00% 0.43%   -0.03%
CHF 0.05% 0.00% 0.15% 0.00% 0.03% 0.46% 0.04%  

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).

 

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