British Pound Rallies Then Drops on Mixed UK Jobs Data

The  British pound today rallied briefly following the  release of  the  UK labour market report for  August, where the unemployment rate hit a  new record low. The  GBP/USD currency pair was weighed down by  the  higher than expected claimant count rate, which saw it drop from session highs back to  its opening levels.
The  GBP/USD currency pair today rallied to  a  high of  1.2827 after the  jobs report before dropping to  an intra-day low of  1.2766 as  the  greenback recovered.
The  currency pair rallied higher after the  UK’s Office for  National Statistics released its latest jobs report in  the  early European session. The  ILO unemployment rate came in  at  4.0% in  the  3 months to  June, which was better than the  expected 4.2% driving the  pair higher. The  claimant count rate remained stable at  2.5%, while the  jobless claims increased by  6,200, which was much higher than the  expected 3,800 claims dragging the  pair lower. The  average weekly earnings missed expectations by  coming in  at  2.4% versus the  expected 2.5%, while the  weekly earnings excluding bonuses met expectations by  coming in  at  an  annualized 2.7%. The  employment figures also missed consensus estimates.
The  currency pairs remains weighed down by  the  high uncertainty regarding the  Brexit negotiations as  well as  the  resurgent demand for  the  greenback as  tracked by  the  US Dollar Index.
The  currency pair’s future performance is likely to  be influenced by  the  release of  the  US import and  export price indices and  the  ongoing Brexit negotiations.
The  GBP/USD currency pair was trading at  1.2774 as  at  11:27 GMT having dropped from a  high of  1.2827. The  GBP/JPY currency pair was trading at  141.69 having rallied from a  low of  141.08.

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