Breaking: GBP/USD rises towards 1.3050 as UK wages beat estimates with 3.2%
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- The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 3.4% YoY vs. +3.4% expected.
- The UK wages including bonuses rose by 3.2% YoY vs. +3.1% expected.
- The UK unemployment rate steadies at 3.8% in November.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s average weekly Earnings, excluding bonuses, arrived at 3.4% 3Mo YoY in November versus 3.5% last and 3.4% expected while the gauge including bonuses came in at 3.2% 3Mo YoY in November versus 3.2% previous and 3.1% expected.
The Kingdom’s official jobless rate steadied at 3.8% in Nov, while the claimant count change showed a smaller-than-expected increase.
The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 14.9K in December, against expectations +22.6K and +14.9K (revised up from +28.8K) seen previously. The claimant count rate rose to 3.5% vs. 3.4% previous.
About UK jobs
The UK Average Earnings released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is a key short-term indicator of how levels of pay are changing within the UK economy. Generally speaking, the positive earnings growth anticipates positive (or bullish) for the GBP, whereas a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).
FX Implications
GBP/USD caught a fresh bid-wave and rose nearly 25-pips to reach fresh session highs at 1.3035 on solid UK jobs report. The further upside, however, looks unlikely amid uncertainty over the EU-UK post-Brexit trade deal and increased BOE rate cut calls.
GBP/USD Levels to watch
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