UK ILO Unemployment Rate unexpectedly drops to 3.6% in July
- The Unemployment Rate in the UK arrived at 3.6% in July.
- UK Claimant Count Change arrived at 6.3K in August.
- The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 5.2% YoY in July vs. 5.0% expected.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s official jobless rate dropped to 3.6% in July vs. 3.8% expected while the claimant count change showed an unexpected increase in August.
The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 6.3K in August when compared to -10.5K booked previously and -9.2K expectations.
The UK’s average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, arrived at +5.2% 3Mo/YoY in July versus +4.7% last and +5.0% expected while the gauge including bonuses came in at +5.5% 3Mo/YoY in July versus +5.1% previous and +5.2% expected.
Key points (via ONS)
UK vacancies 1.266 million in three months to August.
Largest quarterly decrease in vacancies since 2020.
UK August payrolls rose 71,000 to 29.7 million.
UK real total pay, using CPIH measure of inflation, fell by 2.6% YoY in three months to July.
GBP/USD reaction
GBP/USD finds a fresh boost on the mixed UK employment data, as it adds 0.20% to test 1.1700, as of writing.
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).
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
