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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