UK Unemployment Rate stays at 4.4% in the quarter to February as expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate remains unchanged at 4.4% in three months to February.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain came in at 18.7K in March.
- GBP/USD defends gains near 1.3200 after mixed UK employment data.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate held steady at 4.4% in the three months to February, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Thursday. The market forecast was for a 4.4% reading in the reported period.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits increased by 18.7K in February, compared with a revised gain of 16.5K in January, bettering the expected 30.3K readout.
The Employment Change data for February came in at 205K versus 144K in January.
Meanwhile, Average Earnings, excluding Bonus, in the UK rose 5.9% three months year-over-year (3M YoY) in February versus a revised 5.8% growth booked previously. Markets expected a 6% print.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings, including Bonus, advanced 5.6% in the same period after accelerating by a revised 5.6% in the quarter through February. The data surpassed the estimate of 5.7%.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
GBP/USD defends gains following the release of the UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.07% higher on the day at 1.3201, 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 strongest against the Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.06% | -0.08% | -0.13% | 0.00% | -0.46% | -0.53% | 0.23% | |
| EUR | -0.06% | -0.13% | -0.15% | -0.04% | -0.44% | -0.57% | 0.19% | |
| GBP | 0.08% | 0.13% | -0.02% | 0.09% | -0.31% | -0.45% | 0.32% | |
| JPY | 0.13% | 0.15% | 0.02% | 0.11% | -0.32% | -0.56% | 0.33% | |
| CAD | -0.01% | 0.04% | -0.09% | -0.11% | -0.42% | -0.53% | 0.23% | |
| AUD | 0.46% | 0.44% | 0.31% | 0.32% | 0.42% | -0.13% | 0.63% | |
| NZD | 0.53% | 0.57% | 0.45% | 0.56% | 0.53% | 0.13% | 0.76% | |
| CHF | -0.23% | -0.19% | -0.32% | -0.33% | -0.23% | -0.63% | -0.76% |
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.
