Britain’s unemployment rate for September rose to 8.3%. Early expectations stood on a rise from 8.1% to 8.2%. Youth unemployment is at 21.9% or 1.02 million. The number of jobless claims for October rose by 5.3K, less than expected (Claimant Count Change).
GBP/USD reacts with a small drop and lost the 1.58 line it managed to climb above beforehand. The pair dropped to around 1.5750 during the Asian session. Resistance is at 1.5850. All in all, the moves are quite limited. The figures offset each other and another big event is awaited.
The Bank of England will present its quarterly inflation report at 10:30 GMT. This will be accompanied by a press conference by Mervyn King.
The latest inflation figures released yesterday have shown that inflation remains high. Headline CPI is at 5%, and Core CPI even rose to 3.4%. The BOE still expects inflation to slide in 2012. The official target is 2%.
For more on the pound, see the GBP/USD forecast.
The ongoing debt crisis in Europe is the main issue weighing on the pound.
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