United Kingdom Unemployment Rate stays at 4.9% in June vs. 4.8% expected

The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate stayed at 4.9% in the three months to June after reporting 4.9% in the previous reading, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday. The data came in above the market consensus of 4.8%.

Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits fell by 11K in July, compared with a revised decrease of 6.4K in June and the expected 11.2K gain.

The Employment Change data came in at 83K in June against 147K recorded in May.

Meanwhile, Average Earnings, excluding Bonus, in the UK ticked up by 3.5% three months year-over-year (3M YoY) in June versus a 3.4% growth booked previously. The market expectation was for a 3.4% print.

Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings, including Bonus, rose by 4.1% in the same period after increasing by 4.4% in the quarter through May (revised from 4.3%). The data matched the estimate of 4.1%.

GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report

The British Pound (GBP) attracts some sellers in an immediate reaction to the UK employment report. At the time of writing, the GBP/USD pair is trading 0.15% lower on the day to trade at 1.3524.