Breaking: GBP/USD jumps as UK March Unemployment Rate unexpectedly drops to 3.9%

UK April jobless claims changed 856.5K vs +150K expected.
The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 2.7% YoY vs. +2.6% expected.
The unemployment rate in the UK dropped to 3.9% in March.

FXStreet Team FXStreet

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s official jobless rate dropped from the previous 4.0% to 3.9% in March, while the claimant count change showed a much bigger-than-expected increase last month.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 856.5K in April, against expectations +150K and +5.4K (revised up from +12.2K) seen previously. The claimant count rate jumped to 5.8%.

The UK’s average weekly Earnings, excluding bonuses, arrived at +2.7% 3Mo YoY in March versus +2.9% last and +2.6% expected while the gauge including bonuses came in at +2.4% 3Mo YoY in March versus +2.8% previous and +2.7% expected.

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).

GBP/USD reaction

An unexpected drop in the UK’s jobless rate put a fresh bid under the GBP, driving GBP/USD to fresh daily highs of 1.2229. The bulls ignored a massive surge in the claimant count for April.

GBP/USD levels to watch

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price	1.2228
Today Daily Change	0.0007
Today Daily Change %	0.06
Today daily open	1.2194

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.2357
Daily SMA50	1.2308
Daily SMA100	1.2661
Daily SMA200	1.2663

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.2228
Previous Daily Low	1.2076
Previous Weekly High	1.2438
Previous Weekly Low	1.2102
Previous Monthly High	1.2648
Previous Monthly Low	1.2165
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.217
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.2134
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.2104
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.2014
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.1952
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.2256
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.2318
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.2408

Author

FXStreet Team

FXStreet

Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.

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