UK Employment Figures Give the Pound an Early Boost

It was a busy start to the day for the UK market. Employment numbers were in focus ahead of the market open.

According to the Office for National Statistics,

• Employment surged by 83k in the three months to March, compared with the previous three months to December.
• As a result, the unemployment rate fell from 3.8% to 3.7% versus a forecasted 3.8%.
• Also positive was a jump in wage growth. The Average Earnings Index + Bonus increased 7.0% in March compared with 5.4% in February.

For April, claimant counts also painted a rosier picture, with claim counts falling by 56.9k versus a forecasted 42.5k decline. In March, claimant counts fell by 46.9k.

The stats delivered a much-needed boost to the Pound and supported more BoE rate hikes to curb inflation.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s stats, the Pound fell to a pre-stat and a current-day low of $1.23168 before rising to a pre-stat high of $1.23491.

In response to today’s numbers, the Pound slipped to a post-stat low of $1.23465 before jumping to a post-stat and a current-day high of $1.23650.

At the time of writing, the Pound was up 0.30S% to $1.23564.

Ahead of the European open, the futures market point to a bullish open for the major indexes.

At the time of writing, the FTSE100 was up 40 points, with the DAX 30 risings by 129 points.

Up Next

Later today, second estimate GDP numbers for the Eurozone are due out ahead of retail sales figures from the US.

With market jitters over the threat of a recession lingering, weak US retail sales numbers could test support for riskier assets.