UK Unemployment Rate rises to 4.4% in quarter to April vs. 4.3% expected
- The UK Unemployment Rate rose to 4.4% in three months to April.
- The Claimant Count Change for Britain came in at 50.4K in May.
- GBP/USD eases 1.2700 after mixed UK jobs data.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate rose to 4.4% in the three months to April after reporting 4.3% in the previous period, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. The market consensus was for a 4.3% reading.
Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 50.4K in May, compared with a revised increase of 8.4K reported in April, beating the expected 10.2K increment.
The Employment Change data for April came in at -140K, as against March’s -177K.
Meanwhile, Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 6.0% 3M YoY in April versus a 6.0% growth recorded in March. The reading matched the expectations.
Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus increased by 5.9% in the same period, at the same pace as seen in the quarter through March and above the expected raise of 5.7%.
GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report
GBP/USD ticked a few pips lower on the mixed UK employment data. The pair is trading flat on the day at 1.2725, 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 Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.01% | 0.03% | 0.16% | 0.02% | 0.13% | 0.10% | 0.02% | |
| EUR | 0.01% | 0.04% | 0.15% | 0.04% | 0.16% | 0.12% | 0.06% | |
| GBP | -0.03% | -0.04% | 0.12% | -0.01% | 0.10% | 0.06% | -0.03% | |
| JPY | -0.16% | -0.15% | -0.12% | -0.13% | -0.04% | -0.07% | -0.14% | |
| CAD | -0.02% | -0.04% | 0.01% | 0.13% | 0.11% | 0.07% | -0.02% | |
| AUD | -0.13% | -0.16% | -0.10% | 0.04% | -0.11% | -0.04% | -0.14% | |
| NZD | -0.10% | -0.12% | -0.06% | 0.07% | -0.07% | 0.04% | -0.08% | |
| CHF | -0.02% | -0.06% | 0.03% | 0.14% | 0.02% | 0.14% | 0.08% |
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.
