The unemployment rate in the UK dropped to 4.9% in May, better than a no-change figure expected at 5%. Average earnings came out at 2.3%, higher than in April and as expected and excluding bonuses, it came out at 2.2%, slightly below 2.3% expected.
Jobless claims for June, the month that saw the referendum ,also came out better than predicted. A minimal rise of 0.4K was reported, better than 3.5K predicted. We will get some more Brexit-related data only next month.
The good news is not unnoticed by markets: GBP/USD is lifting its head and rising to 1.3130, up around 40 pips from the pre-release data. This is actually a bit surprising as the data is somewhat stale.
Will sterling maintain its gains?
The Bank of England convenes on August 4th to makes its “real” decision after refraining from action last week. Perhaps the most significant piece of data will come from the purchasing managers’ indicators. Fresh PMIs are expected on Friday, in a special report from Markit.
Here is the GBP/USD chart:
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