UK wages rose 2.1% y/y in January, better than expected. Excluding bonuses, wages are up 2.2%. Both figures are 0.1% above expectations. The unemployment rate remains 5.1% as predicted. Jobless claims for February have dropped 18K, double the early expectations. In addition, the previous figure was revised to -28.4K instead of -14.8K originally reported, which is also good news.
GBP/USD extends its recovery, which already began before the publication.Update: cable slides once again.
UK wages were expected to rise 2% in January from 1.9% in December. Excluding bonuses, the figure was expected to rise from 2% to 2.1%. The unemployment rate was predicted to stay unchanged at 5.1%. Jobless claims for February were predicted to drop by 9.1K after a nice fall of 14.8K in January.
GBP/USD was bouncing from the lows, trading around 1.4130 from 1.4084 seen earlier.
The pound suffered is suffering from a growing chance of a Brexit according to a recent opinion poll. In addition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will present the budget today and it is expected to include some austerity measures and lower forecasts.
A very packed day for the pound then continues to the US with key figures and the Fed decision later in the day. The Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged.
Levels to watch are: 1.4050, 1.40, 1.3950 and 1.3840 to the downside. To the upside we have 1.4175, 1.4230, 1.4280 and 1.4440. The pound has also shown weakness against the yen and the euro.
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