UK Unemployment Rate steadies at 4.2% in quarter to November, as expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate held steady at 4.2% in the quarter to November.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain arrived at 11.7K in December.
- GBP/USD remains pressured below 1.2700 after the mixed UK jobs data.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate remained intact at 4.2% in three months to November, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. The market expected a 4.2% reading in the November quarter.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits climbed by 11.7K in December, as against an increase of 0.6K in November.
The British Employment Change data for November came in at 73K, compared with a 50K gain seen in October.
Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 6.6% 3M YoY in November versus October’s 7.2% increase. Markets had expected a growth of 6.6%.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus grew by 6.5% in the reported period when compared to a 7.2% increase in October and the expected 6.8% raise.
The UK Secretary of State, Mel Stride MP, told FXStreet: “Today’s figures are yet more evidence the economy is turning a corner with the numbers of jobs hitting a record high and inactivity falling by nearly 270,000 last year.”
““Our £2.5 billion Back to Work plan will open up the benefits of employment for thousands more people, while we continue to make work pay by cutting taxes and boosting the national living wage,” Stride added.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
GBP/USD remains under intense selling pressure after the mixed UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.40% lower on the day at 1.2670, as of writing.
Pound Sterling price today
The table below shows the percentage change of Pound Sterling (GBP) against listed major currencies today. Pound Sterling was the weakest against the US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 0.23% | 0.31% | 0.29% | 0.44% | 0.19% | 0.36% | 0.37% | |
| EUR | -0.24% | 0.09% | 0.06% | 0.20% | -0.05% | 0.12% | 0.13% | |
| GBP | -0.32% | -0.09% | -0.03% | 0.15% | -0.13% | 0.06% | 0.05% | |
| CAD | -0.30% | -0.07% | 0.02% | 0.13% | -0.12% | 0.05% | 0.06% | |
| AUD | -0.44% | -0.23% | -0.14% | -0.17% | -0.27% | -0.08% | -0.09% | |
| JPY | -0.20% | 0.03% | 0.13% | 0.11% | 0.27% | 0.20% | 0.18% | |
| NZD | -0.36% | -0.14% | -0.06% | -0.08% | 0.08% | -0.18% | 0.01% | |
| CHF | -0.37% | -0.13% | -0.05% | -0.07% | 0.10% | -0.19% | 0.00% |
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.
