The Great Britain pound fell against the US dollar today after the release of worse-than-expected employment data. The fall was limited, though, and the currency managed to hold its ground against other majors, like the euro and the Japanese yen.
Today’s employment report did not look pretty. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits increased by 6,700 in March while analysts had predicted a drop by approximately 11,900. Average weekly earnings growth slowed unexpectedly to 1.8% in the three-month period compared to a year ago from 2.1% in the previous reporting period. The unemployment rate was the only indicator that experts had estimated correctly, staying at 5.1%.
Yesterday, Bank of England chief Mark Carney talked about dangers for Britain in case of an exit from the European Union. The comments were negative for the sterling, but the currency did not halt its rally yesterday and remains relatively firm today.
GBP/USD ticked down from 1.4397 to 1.4370 as of 18:31 GMT today. EUR/GBP declined from 0.7887 to 0.7870. GBP/JPY was at 157.68, not far from the opening rate of 157.22, after falling to the daily low of 156.17.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Great Britain Pound,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
