UK Jan jobs mixed: Claimant count drops unexpectedly, jobless rate climbs

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) noted on Wednesday, the UK’s official jobless rate came in at 4.4% in December, while the claimant count figures surprised positively.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits dropped unexpectedly by 7.2k in December, against expectations of a 4.1k increase and 6.2k (revised from 8.6k) seen previously. The claimant count rate also dropped to 2.3%.

Wage growth, excluding bonuses, bettered expectations, arriving at 2.5% versus 2.3% last, while the gauge including bonuses remained unchanged at 2.5% 3m y/y versus 2.5% expected.

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.

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