UK Unemployment Rate drops to 4.0% in quarter to August vs. 4.1% expected

• The UK Unemployment Rate eases to 4.0% in three months to August.
• The Claimant Count Change for Britain stood at 27.9K in September.
• GBP/USD keeps range around 1.3050 after mixed UK employment data.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate eased to 4.0% in the three months to August, following July’s 4.1% reading, the data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday. The market forecast was 4.1% in the reported period.

Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits increased by 27.9K in September, compared with a gain of 23.7K in August, missing the expected 20.2K print.

The Employment Change data for August arrived at 373K, compared to 265k reported in July.

Meanwhile, Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 4.9% 3M YoY in August versus a 5.1% growth seen in July. The reading aligned with the expectations of a 4.9% acceleration.

Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus also increased by 3.8% in the same period after a 4.0% growth seen in the quarter through July. The market expectation was for +3.8%.

GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report

GBP/USD keeps its range near 1.3050 in reaction to the mixed UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.14% lower on the day at 1.3040, as of writing.