United Kingdom Unemployment Rate rises to 5.0% in March vs. 4.9% expected

The United Kingdom’s (UK) ILO Unemployment Rate climbed to 5.0% in the three months to March after reporting 4.9% in the previous reading, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday.

The data came in above the market consensus of 4.9%.

Additional details of the report showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose by 26.5K in April, compared with a revised increase of 4.9K in March and the expected 27.3K gain.

The Employment Change data came in at 148K in March against 25K recorded in February. 

Meanwhile, Average Earnings, excluding Bonus, in the UK ticked up by 3.4% three months year-over-year (3M YoY) in March versus a 3.6% growth booked previously. The market expectation was for a 3.4% print.

Another measure of wage inflation, Average Earnings, including Bonus, climbed by 4.1% in the same period after increasing by 3.9% (revision) in the quarter through February. The data beat the estimate of 3.8%.

GBP/USD reaction to the UK employment report

The Bitish Pound holds losses following the release of the UK employment data. The GBP/USD pair is trading 0.13% lower on the day at 1.3415, as of writing.