Data relating to the UK’s employment statistics showed no signs of post Brexit gloom and briefly buoyed the GBP further following yesterday’s positive CPI figure. The releases which included UK average earnings index, unemployment claimant change and the unemployment rate.
Many had anticipated a slowdown and potential redundancies in the run up to the EU referendum however this didn’t materialise.
Average earnings did fall slightly short of the expected 2.5% reaching 2.4% showing that UK wages remained steady if not strained.
Next up was the Claimant account change which highlights any alteration in the number of individuals claiming benefit. The number showed the largest reduction since February contradicting recent business confidence surveys. Registering 8600 less UK benefits claimants. Finally, was the release of the unemployment rate which showed that 4.9% of the UK’s workforce is currently unemployed in line with expectations.
In total UK businesses had 172,000 new positions filled in the second quarter. Although the Bank of England anticipates that unemployment will slowly creep towards 5.1% todays data assisted the pound which is currently around the 1.3006 touching a short lived high of 1.30405. The pound also gained against the opening at 1.1545 and closing a shade lower at 1.1542.
With UK Retail sales and public sector borrowing due out on Thursday and Friday it will be interesting to see if the GBP can maintain its current levels.
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