UK Unemployment Rate stays at 4.4% in quarter to December vs. 4.5% expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate held steady at 4.4% in three months to December.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain came in at 22K in January.
- GBP/USD trims losses to regain 1.2600 after mixed UK employment data
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate remained at 4.4% in the three months to December, the data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday. The market forecast was for a 4.5% print in the reported period.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits climbed by 22K in January, compared with a revised drop of 15.1K in December, missing the estimated 10K figure.
The Employment Change data for December came in at 107K versus November’s 35K.
Meanwhile, Average Earnings, excluding Bonus, in the UK increased by 5.9% three months year-on-year (3M YoY) in December versus a 5.6% growth booked previously. Markets expected a 5.9% reading.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings, including Bonus, rose 6% in the same period after accelerating by 5.6% in the quarter through November. The data surpassed the market consensus of 5.9%.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
GBP/USD finds fresh demand and trims losses on the release of the UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.09% lower on the day at 1.2613, as of writing.
(This story was corrected on February 18 at 8:27 GMT to say that Average Earnings, including Bonus, rose 6%, not 5.9%.)
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 | 0.18% | 0.10% | 0.30% | 0.05% | 0.00% | 0.42% | 0.13% | |
| EUR | -0.18% | -0.08% | 0.11% | -0.13% | -0.17% | 0.23% | -0.05% | |
| GBP | -0.10% | 0.08% | 0.23% | -0.05% | -0.10% | 0.31% | 0.03% | |
| JPY | -0.30% | -0.11% | -0.23% | -0.26% | -0.31% | 0.08% | -0.19% | |
| CAD | -0.05% | 0.13% | 0.05% | 0.26% | -0.05% | 0.36% | 0.09% | |
| AUD | -0.01% | 0.17% | 0.10% | 0.31% | 0.05% | 0.40% | 0.10% | |
| NZD | -0.42% | -0.23% | -0.31% | -0.08% | -0.36% | -0.40% | -0.28% | |
| CHF | -0.13% | 0.05% | -0.03% | 0.19% | -0.09% | -0.10% | 0.28% |
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.
