When are the UK jobs and how could they affect GBP/USD?

UK Jobs report overview

The UK labor market report is expected to show that the average weekly earnings, including bonuses, in the three months to November, are expected to rise by 3.1%, while ex-bonuses, the wages are also seen rising by 3.4% in the reported period.

The number of people seeking jobless benefits are likely to increase by 24.5k in December vs. +28.8k seen last. The ILO unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 3.8% during the period.

How could they affect GBP/USD?

Haresh Menghani, Analyst at FXStreet explains, “From a technical perspective, any subsequent move up might continue to confront some fresh supply near the top end of a three-week-old descending trend-channel, currency near the 1.3060 region. This is closely followed by a resistance marked by 200-period SMA on the 4-hourly chart, around the 1.3100 handle, which if cleared might be seen as a key trigger for bullish traders. On the flip side, the 1.2960-55 region might continue to protect the immediate downside, below which the pair is likely to turn vulnerable to break below the 1.2900 handle and aim towards challenging the trend-channel support – around the 1.2875 zone.”

At the time of writing, the GBP sellers are making a fresh attempt to breach the 1.3000 level, having stalled its Monday’s recovery at 1.3022. The spot is last seen trading around 1.3005, almost unchanged on the day.

Key Notes

GBP/USD risks a move to the mid-1.2800s – Commerzbank

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About UK jobs

The UK Average Earnings released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is a key short-term indicator of how levels of pay are changing within the UK economy. Generally speaking, the positive earnings growth anticipates positive (or bullish) for the GBP, whereas a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).