UK Unemployment Rate rises to 4.3% in quarter to September vs. 4.1% expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate rose to 4.3% in three months to September.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain arrived at 26.7K in September.
- GBP/USD remains pressured toward 1.2800 after mixed UK employment data.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate ticked up to 4.3% in the three months to September, following 4.0% in August, the data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday. The market had expected a 4.1% reading in the reported period.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits climbed by 26.7K in October, compared with a revised gain of 10.1K in September, missing the expected 30.5K print.
The Employment Change data for September came in at 219K versus August’s 373K.
Meanwhile, Average Earnings, excluding Bonus, in the UK increased 4.8% 3M YoY in September versus a 4.9% raise in August. The market forecast was for a 4.7% growth.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings, including Bonus, rose 4.8% in the same period after accelerating by 3.9% in the quarter through August. The data beat the estimated 3.9% growth.
Commenting on the UK employment report, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall MP said, “ 2.8 million people – a near record number are locked out of work due to poor health. This is bad for people, bad for businesses and it’s holding our economy back. That’s why our Get Britain Working plan will bring forward the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, backed by an additional £240m of investment.”
“And while it’s encouraging to see real pay growth this month, more needs to be done to improve living standards too. So, from April next year over three million of the lowest paid workers will benefit from our increase to the National Living Wage, delivering a £1,400 a year pay rise for a full-time worker,” Kendall added.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
GBP/USD inches further south in reaction to the mixed UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.42% lower on the day at 1.2814, as of writing.
British Pound PRICE Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the weakest against the US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.21% | 0.40% | 0.09% | 0.18% | 0.28% | 0.09% | 0.17% | |
| EUR | -0.21% | 0.20% | -0.11% | -0.03% | 0.07% | -0.12% | -0.07% | |
| GBP | -0.40% | -0.20% | -0.30% | -0.22% | -0.12% | -0.33% | -0.27% | |
| JPY | -0.09% | 0.11% | 0.30% | 0.10% | 0.20% | 0.00% | 0.05% | |
| CAD | -0.18% | 0.03% | 0.22% | -0.10% | 0.10% | -0.09% | -0.04% | |
| AUD | -0.28% | -0.07% | 0.12% | -0.20% | -0.10% | -0.18% | -0.15% | |
| NZD | -0.09% | 0.12% | 0.33% | -0.01% | 0.09% | 0.18% | 0.04% | |
| CHF | -0.17% | 0.07% | 0.27% | -0.05% | 0.04% | 0.15% | -0.04% |
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
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.
