UK unemployment rate seen unchanged at 5.2%, wage growth to drop

By FXStreet FXStreet (Mumbai) – The ONS will publish UK’s labour market report today at 9.30 GMT. Unemployment rate for the three months to November is expected to come in at 5.2%, unchanged from the rate seen previously. UK employers are expected to have added 235,000 jobs. Unemployment Rate in the UK averaged 7.18 per cent from 1971 until 2015. It reached an all-time high of 12 per cent in February 1984 and a record low of 3.40 per cent in November 1973.

Average weekly earnings are forecast to have grown 2.1% in the three months to November, dropping from the 2.4 per cent rise seen in the previous three months. Wages in the United Kingdom averaged 415.11 GBP/Week from 2000 until 2015. It reached an all-time high of 495 GBP/Week in July of 2015. HSBC analysts are of the opinion “Pay growth will continue to slow in November, in part due to base effects, but should rise back over the coming months as these base effects fall away”. While the labor market has shown steady signs of recovery, wages remain a worry for policy makers.

Analysts estimate jobless claims to have likely risen 2,800 in December. The claimant count rate expected to …read more

Source:: FX Street