Pound Sterling extends gains due to stronger wage growth, UK Inflation eyed

The Pound Sterling (GBP) delivered a consolidation breakout after the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics reported a significant growth in jobless benefits and healthy lay-offs in the labor market. The GBP/USD pair extends its upside as a considerable jump in the labor cost index ensures more interest rate hikes from the Bank of England (BoE) cannot be ruled out. The Unemployment Rate rose to a fresh nine-month high at 4.2%.

United Kingdom’s vulnerable labor market report indicates the consequences of aggressively tight interest rate policy by the BoE. Labor shortages and high food inflation have remained major contributors to persistent inflation and lay-offs in June ensure easing inflationary pressures ahead. After a weak labor market report and healthy growth rate, investors will shift their focus toward the inflation data for July, which will be published on Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

Daily Digest Market Movers: Pound Sterling remains elevated ahead of inflation data

• Pound Sterling jumps above 1.2700 as the United Kingdom labor market data demonstrates the consequences of the aggressive rate-tightening cycle by the Bank of England.
• Claimant Count Change for July rose sharply by 29K, higher than the 16.2K jobless claims recorded in June. On the contrary, investors forecasted a decline in the number of claims by 7.3K.
• The UK labor market witnessed a decline in payrolls by 66K in June while investors forecasted fresh additions of 75K job seekers. In May, the addition of 102K employees in the workforce was recorded.
• Three months to June Unemployment Rate rose to 4.2% vs. the estimates and the former release of 4.0%.
• The key catalyst that is going to discomfort BoE policymakers is the significant growth in labor cost data.
• April-June quarter Average Earnings excluding bonuses rose to 7.8% vs. a downwardly revised prediction of 7.4%. Earnings data including bonuses jumped significantly to 8.2% in the same period, considerably higher than the consensus of 7.3%.
• Assessing the UK jobs report, the UK Minister for Employment, Guy Opperman MP told FXStreet:"Our jobs market continues to show its strength with employment at near record levels and inactivity down by over 300,000 since the pandemic peak. Combined with falling inflation and our package of reforms to remove barriers to work, we are on the right path to drive down household costs and grow our economy."
• The BoE might continue tightening interest rates as significant growth in labor cost is sufficient to offset higher jobless claims and lay-offs.
• Last week, UK factory activities for June and Q2 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew significantly despite the continuation of aggressive policy-tightening by the Bank of England.
• Monthly GDP swung from a contraction and grew by 0.5% in June, more than the 0.2% expected. In the January-March quarter, the economy contracted by 0.1%.
• Quarterly GDP grew by 0.2% in 2Q, while analysts had forecasted a stagnant performance. The annual growth rate was 0.4%, doubling the consensus and the prior release of 0.2%.
• Monthly Industrial Production and Manufacturing Production for June expanded strongly by 1.8% and 2.4% respectively, outperforming expectations by a wide margin.
• After the hangover of factory activities and the labor market, investors will shift their focus toward the inflation and Retail Price Index data.
• UK inflation is expected to continue its softening spell as the BoE has raised interest rates to 5.25% and further policy tightening is widely anticipated.
• US Dollar appeal continues to shine as investors lose confidence in China’s economic growth, concerned about deflation risks due to weak demand and declining exports.
• Investors hope that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will keep the interest rate policy unchanged in September as modest growth in the United States inflation is in line with the Fed’s desired rate of 2%. 
• US Census Bureau reported that Retail Sales data for July expanded at a 0.7% pace vs. expectations of 0.4% and June's reading of 0.2%.

Technical Analysis: Pound Sterling maintains auction above 1.2700

Pound Sterling comes out of the woods and tests the region above the round-level resistance of 1.2700. The Cable delivered a V-shape recovery after printing a fresh six-week low around 1.2600 as investors considered the Pound Sterling a value bet. Medium-term sentiment for the Pound Sterling is still bearish as the Cable is trading below the 20 and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). The asset could be exposed to fresh lows if it fails to sustain above the crucial support of 1.2600.