Jobless claims in the United Kingdom increased to 4.2% in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday. This number follows the 4% published in May and was lower than the 4% expected by the market.
Other figures from the UK employment report indicated that Employment Change was -66,000 in the same period, a significant decrease from +102,000. According to the ONS press release, inactivity due to long-term illness reached a new level throughout the survey period.
Wage inflation in the United Kingdom was 7.8% in June, compared to 7.5% in May, as indicated by the change in Average Earnings Excluding Bonus. Average Earnings Including Bonus increased 8.2%, far faster than economists predicted of 7.3%.
Market reaction on UK Jobless
Pound Sterling managed to find demand in the early market reaction, with investors reacting to robust wage inflation data. GBPUSD was up 0.25% on the day as of writing, trading at 1.2712.
The US Dollar Index (DXY) has fallen to an intraday low of roughly 103.00 in early Tuesday AM Europe. As a result, the US dollar index versus the six major currencies suffers its first daily loss in four days.
Nonetheless, a confluence of the 200-day moving average and a 5.5-month-old descending trend line limit immediate DXY gains amid an overbought RSI (14) line.
The market’s anticipation of US Retail Sales for July is adding to the US Dollar Index’s backward swings.
