UK Unemployment Rate rises to 4.7% in the quarter to May vs. 4.6% expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate rose to 4.7% in three months to May.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain stood at 25.9K in June.
- GBP/USD holds losses below 1.3400 after mixed UK employment data.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment rose to 4.7% in the three months to May after reporting 4.6% in the quarter to April, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Thursday.
The data came in above the market consensus of 4.6%.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits increased 25.9K in June, compared with a revised increase of 15.3K in May, above the expected 17.9K figure.
The Employment Change data came in at 134K in May versus 89K in April.
Meanwhile, Average Earnings, excluding Bonus, in the UK increased 5.0% three months year-over-year (3M YoY) in May versus a revised 5.3% growth booked previously. The market forecast was for a 4.9% reading.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings, including Bonus, ticked up by 5.0% in the same period after a revised 5.4% in the quarter through April. The data came in with the estimate of 5.0%.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
The UK employment report has little to no impact on the Pound Sterling. The pair is trading 0.19% lower on the day at 1.3398, 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 | 0.23% | 0.15% | 0.46% | 0.27% | 0.70% | 0.40% | 0.27% | |
| EUR | -0.23% | -0.08% | 0.22% | 0.07% | 0.49% | 0.19% | 0.07% | |
| GBP | -0.15% | 0.08% | 0.32% | 0.13% | 0.54% | 0.25% | 0.12% | |
| JPY | -0.46% | -0.22% | -0.32% | -0.22% | 0.18% | -0.07% | -0.21% | |
| CAD | -0.27% | -0.07% | -0.13% | 0.22% | 0.51% | 0.12% | -0.00% | |
| AUD | -0.70% | -0.49% | -0.54% | -0.18% | -0.51% | -0.38% | -0.42% | |
| NZD | -0.40% | -0.19% | -0.25% | 0.07% | -0.12% | 0.38% | -0.12% | |
| CHF | -0.27% | -0.07% | -0.12% | 0.21% | 0.00% | 0.42% | 0.12% |
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
Lallalit Srijandorn
FXStreet
Lallalit Srijandorn is a Parisian at heart. She has lived in France since 2019 and now becomes a digital entrepreneur based in Paris and Bangkok.
