The number of UK citizens who receive unemployment benefits in August 2015 increased by 1.2 thousand after declining by 6.8 thousand a month earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the country.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, on average, predicted reduction in the number of unemployed in the last month by 5000. The registered unemployment rate (the proportion of citizens who receive unemployment benefits and at the same time are actively seeking a new job) in August remained at the July level of 2.3%. The unemployment rate is in line with expectations of experts.
According to the report prepared by the National Statistical Service of the UK, the unemployment rate in the UK (seasonally adjusted) was 5.5% compared with 5.6% in the previous month. Experts expected the index for the previous month at 5.6%.
At the same time wages of UK residents in May-July grew at a record pace in more than six years. The average level of pay, excluding bonuses, rose in the three months to 2.9% in annual terms, being the maximum increase since early 2009. The total amount of payments also rose 2.9%.
The Bank of England includes the salaries as the most important labor market indicators in the process of deciding the timing of interest rate rises.
The core consumer price index (CPI) in the United Kingdom for the last month decreased. This is according to official data released Tuesday. Based on the report prepared by the National Statistical Service of the UK, this figure was 1.0% compared with 1.2% in the previous month. Experts expected a decline in the past month to 1.0%.
The retail price index (RPI) in the UK in the last quarter grew despite expectations. This was according to official data released Tuesday. According to the report prepared by the National Statistical Service of the UK, this figure (seasonally adjusted) was 1.1% compared with 1.0% in the previous quarter. Experts expected a decline in the preceding quarter to 0.9%.
GBP/USD pair is traded at 1.5392 after 1.5345 just on the eve of the publication of statistics, while the EUR/GBP pair is at 0.7309 after 0.7341 earlier.