UK Unemployment Rate climbs to 4.2% in quarter to February vs. 4.0% expected

• The UK Unemployment Rate rose to 4.2% in three months to February.
• The Claimant Count Change for Britain stood at 10.9K in March.
• GBP/USD holds the bounce toward 1.2450 after mixed UK jobs data.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate came in at 4.2% in the three months to February, rising from 3.9% in the previous period, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. The reading missed the market expectations of a 4.0% print.

Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 10.9K in March, as against a revised increase of 4.1K reported in February. The market forecast was for a 17.2K increment in the reported period.

The Employment Change data for February arrived at -156K, compared with January’s -21K.

Average Earnings excluding Bonus in the UK rose 6.0% 3M YoY in February versus January’s 6.1% growth.

Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings including Bonus grew 5.6%  in the same period, at the same pace seen in the quarter through January and against the expected increase of 5.5%.

GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report

GBP/USD held on to its modest rebound above 1.2400 after the mixed UK employment data. The pair is trading 0.10% lower on the day at 1.2430, as of writing.