UK wages rise by 3.6% 3m y/y in May, beat estimates (GBP/USD uninspired)

• The UK wages excluding bonuses rose by 3.6 y/y compared to 3.5% y/y expected.
• The UK wages including bonuses rose by 3.4% y/y compared to 3.1% y/y expected.
• The UK unemployment rate steadies at 3.8% in May.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, the UK’s average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses bettered expectations, arriving at 3.6% 3m y/y in May versus 3.4% last and 3.5% expected while the gauge including bonuses came in at 3.4% 3m y/y in May versus 3.2% previous and 3.1% expected.

The Kingdom’s official jobless rate steadied at 3.8% in May, while the claimant count change showed a much bigger-than-expected increase.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 38k in June, against expectations of a 22.8k increase and +24.5k (revised from +23.2k) seen previously. The claimant count rate edged higher to 3.2%.