UK Unemployment Rate drops to 3.8% in quarter to December vs. 4.0% expected

• The UK Unemployment Rate declined to 3.8% in the quarter to December.
• The Claimant Count Change for Britain arrived at 14.1K in December.
• GBP/USD rises toward 1.2650 after encouraging UK jobs data.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate dropped to 3.8% in three months to December, compared to 4.2% in November, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. The market forecast was for a 4.0% print in the reported period.

Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 14.1K in January when compared to a gain of 5.5K in December.

The British Employment Change data for December stood at 72K, as against a 73K increase in November.

Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 6.2% 3M YoY in December versus November’s 6.7% increase, beating the market expectations of a 6.0% growth.

Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus increased 5.8%  in the reported period, compared with a 6.7% increase in November and the expected 5.6% raise.

GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report

GBP/USD catches a small bid after the encouraging UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.10% higher on the day at 1.2640, as of writing.

(This story was corrected on February 13 at 07:08 GMT to say, "The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate dropped to 3.8% in three months to December," not 4.0%)