British Pound slips on solid US jobless claims as Fed hawks lift USD
- GBP/USD extends its decline as solid jobless claims support the US Dollar.
- Fed speakers warn sticky inflation keeps tightening risks alive.
- UK docket absence leaves Sterling exposed to Dollar dynamics.
The Pound Sterling (GBP) registers back-to-back bearish days on Thursday, down about 0.05% against the US Dollar (USD) after economic data showed the labor market remains solid, while investors eye Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers at the Jackson Hole Symposium. At the time of writing, the GBP/USD pair trades at 1.3588 after reaching a daily high near 1.3600.
GBP/USD weakens as sticky inflation comments bolster Fed tightening risks
The recent tranche of US data is supporting the Greenback, following the release of Core PCE data on Wednesday and the US Department of Labor's figures on Thursday. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending August 22 came in at 203K, below forecasts of 208K, suggesting layoffs remain low.
Other data showed the trade deficit widened to $118.8 billion in July from $102.1 billion the previous month, the largest goods trade gap since March 2025, when it hit a record as companies rushed to import goods ahead of Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the buck’s performance versus six currencies, holds firm at 99.14 after solid data was released over the last two days.
Federal Reserve officials cross the wires at Jackson Hole
The Fed parade began with Kansas City Fed Jeffrey Schmid, who described inflation as "still stubborn" and "still sticky" in a CNBC interview on Thursday. Meanwhile, Chicago Fed's Austan Goolsbee also said inflation is his top concern, while Cleveland Fed's Beth Hammack stated that “now is the time to act given the persistence of inflation.”
This has kept GBP/USD under downward pressure as the chances of further Fed tightening have increased. In the UK, the economic docket is absent, leaving Sterling reliant on US Dollar-linked dynamics.
Domestic developments in the UK resume next week as Parliament returns to session, while investors look for hints from the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's administration regarding the Autumn Budget, in which he will seek to fund ambitious policies.
GBP/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook
In the daily chart, GBP/USD trades around 1.3590, maintaining a constructive bullish tone as it holds above the cluster of supports defined by the simple moving average trio near 1.3417 and the reclaimed trend-line levels around 1.3393–1.3394 and 1.3488. The Relative Strength Index (14) at about 60 keeps a positive bias without reaching overbought territory, while the Fed Sentiment Index stabilizing near 132 suggests macro sentiment is not obstructing the ongoing recovery.
On the topside, immediate resistance emerges at the former rising trend-line break near 1.3631, ahead of the horizontal barrier at 1.3676, where bulls could face profit-taking. On the downside, initial demand is seen at the downtrend-line pivot around 1.3488, followed by the simple moving averages clustered near 1.3417 and the lower trend-line supports close to 1.3393–1.3394, levels that would need to give way to weaken the current bullish bias.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Pound Sterling Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.01% | -0.01% | -0.02% | -0.15% | -0.36% | -0.05% | -0.23% | |
| EUR | 0.01% | 0.00% | -0.04% | -0.16% | -0.34% | -0.14% | -0.23% | |
| GBP | 0.00% | -0.01% | -0.02% | -0.18% | -0.35% | -0.14% | -0.24% | |
| JPY | 0.02% | 0.04% | 0.02% | -0.13% | -0.31% | -0.12% | -0.18% | |
| CAD | 0.15% | 0.16% | 0.18% | 0.13% | -0.19% | 0.02% | -0.06% | |
| AUD | 0.36% | 0.34% | 0.35% | 0.31% | 0.19% | 0.21% | 0.13% | |
| NZD | 0.05% | 0.14% | 0.14% | 0.12% | -0.02% | -0.21% | -0.06% | |
| CHF | 0.23% | 0.23% | 0.24% | 0.18% | 0.06% | -0.13% | 0.06% |
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 British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).
Author
Christian Borjon Valencia
FXStreet
Markets analyst, news editor, and trading instructor with over 14 years of experience across FX, commodities, US equity indices, and global macro markets.
