UK Unemployment Rate drops to 3.8% in quarter to December vs. 4.0% expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate declined to 3.8% in the quarter to December.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain arrived at 14.1K in December.
- GBP/USD rises toward 1.2650 after encouraging UK jobs data.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate dropped to 3.8% in three months to December, compared to 4.2% in November, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. The market forecast was for a 4.0% print in the reported period.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 14.1K in January when compared to a gain of 5.5K in December.
The British Employment Change data for December stood at 72K, as against a 73K increase in November.
Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 6.2% 3M YoY in December versus November’s 6.7% increase, beating the market expectations of a 6.0% growth.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus increased 5.8% in the reported period, compared with a 6.7% increase in November and the expected 5.6% raise.
The UK Minister for Employment, Jo Churchill MP, told FXStreet: “With unemployment at just 3.8% and payroll employment at a record high, we are helping many more people access work and all the benefits it brings be it financial, health or social.
“Our pioneering welfare reforms are going further, helping reduce the number of people who would otherwise be on the highest tier of incapacity benefits by 370,000 and tearing down barriers to work for millions of disabled people through our Chance to Work Guarantee. Meanwhile, our £2.5bn Back to Work Plan will drive down inactivity, grow the economy and change lives,” Churchill added.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
GBP/USD catches a small bid after the encouraging UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.10% higher on the day at 1.2640, as of writing.
(This story was corrected on February 13 at 07:08 GMT to say, "The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate dropped to 3.8% in three months to December," not 4.0%)
Pound Sterling price today
The table below shows the percentage change of Pound Sterling (GBP) against listed major currencies today. Pound Sterling was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -0.03% | -0.12% | -0.04% | 0.13% | 0.10% | 0.29% | 0.01% | |
| EUR | 0.02% | -0.10% | -0.01% | 0.15% | 0.12% | 0.30% | 0.04% | |
| GBP | 0.12% | 0.08% | 0.06% | 0.23% | 0.20% | 0.40% | 0.10% | |
| CAD | 0.03% | 0.01% | -0.09% | 0.14% | 0.13% | 0.32% | 0.05% | |
| AUD | -0.14% | -0.16% | -0.23% | -0.17% | -0.03% | 0.17% | -0.09% | |
| JPY | -0.11% | -0.13% | -0.21% | -0.13% | 0.01% | 0.18% | -0.09% | |
| NZD | -0.29% | -0.33% | -0.40% | -0.35% | -0.17% | -0.21% | -0.30% | |
| CHF | -0.01% | -0.03% | -0.11% | -0.04% | 0.09% | 0.09% | 0.29% |
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 Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
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.
