When are the UK Jobs and how could they affect GBP/USD?

UK Jobs report overview

The UK labor market report is expected to show that the number of people seeking jobless benefits increased by 5.4k in the three months to December, compared to an increase of 5.9k booked in the three months to November.

The unemployment rate is expected to remain at a record low of 4.3% during the period. Average weekly earnings, including bonuses, in the three months to Nov are expected to steady at 2.5%, while ex-bonuses, the wages are seen unchanged at 2.3% in the reported month.

Deviation impact on GBP/USD

 Readers can find FX Street's proprietary deviation impact map of the event below. As observed the reaction is likely to remain confined between 20 and 60 pips in deviations up to 2 to -4, although in some cases, if notable enough, a deviation can fuel movements of up to 85 pips.

How could affect GBP/USD?

A positive surprise in the claimant count combined with higher average earnings could take Cable through the 1.4050 barrier. On a disappointing result, we could see the GBP/USD pair could correct back below the 1.40 handle.

Haresh Menghani, Analyst at FXStreet, notes, “technically, the pair remains poised to extend the ongoing run-up even beyond the 1.4100 handle, towards a medium-term ascending trend-channel resistance near the 1.4150-60 region. With short-term technical indicators still pointing to near-term overstretched conditions, bulls are likely to take some breather at higher levels. On the flip side, any retracement slide now seems to find immediate support near the 1.40 handle, below which the pair could correct back to the 1.3900 neighborhood.”

Key notes

UK unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.3% in November – TDS

UK unemployment rate expected to remain at historic lows

About UK jobs

The Claimant Change released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) presents the number of unemployment people in the UK. There is a tendency to influence the GBP volatility. Generally speaking, a rise in this indicator has negative implications for consumer spending which discourage economic growth. Generally, a high reading is seen as negative (or bearish) for the GBP, while a low reading is seen as positive (or bullish).