Pound Slides As U.K. Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly

(RTTNews) - The British pound weakened against other major currencies in the European session on Tuesday, as the U.K. unemployment rate rose slightly in the three months to August.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the ILO jobless rate rose slightly to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in the preceding period. The rate was seen unchanged at 4.7 percent.

In the three months to August, average earnings excluding bonuses increased 4.7 percent from a year ago, in line with forecast.

Including bonuses, average earnings were up 5.0 percent, which was much faster than forecast of 4.7 percent.

The number of vacancies decreased 9,000 to 717,000 in the three months to September. This was the 39th consecutive period where vacancy numbers have dropped compared with the previous three months, the ONS said.

Payrolled employees decreased 31,000 sequentially in the June to August period, data showed.

An estimated 15,000 working days were lost because of labor disputes in August.

Expectations for additional interest rate reduction by the Bank of England (BoE) throughout the rest of the year are anticipated to increase as a result of signs of the cooling UK labor market.

Investors will be watching comments by Governor Andrew Bailey and BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Alan Taylor later in the day for new indications on the monetary policy outlook. In order to determine if the UK central bank will lower interest rates this year, investors will be paying close attention to what they say.

European stock markets traded lower, as investors ponder the status of trade talks between the two biggest economies and look ahead to key earnings releases from major U.S. banks for directional cues.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he still expects Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet but warned that all options remain open for retaliating against China's move to tighten exports of rare earths.

China's commerce ministry said it remained open to talks, but the U.S. cannot seek dialogue while threatening new measures.

"If you wish to fight, we shall fight to the end; if you wish to negotiate, our door remains open," according to an official statement.

Also, Beijing reportedly said it was Washington's expansion of curbs on Chinese firms in late September that ratcheted up tensions and drove it to further tighten its grip on the critical minerals.

The U.S. and China will start collecting port fees on each other's vessels from today in tit-for-tat move that threatens global shipping and trade flows.

In the European trading today, the pound fell to a 4-day low of 1.3298 against the U.S. dollar and nearly a 3-week low of 1.0667 against the Swiss franc, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3333 and 1.0734, respectively. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.31 against the greenback and 1.06 against the franc.

Moving away from a recent 4-day high of 203.52 against the yen, the pound slid to an 8-day low of 201.79. On the downside, 197.00 is seen as the next support level for the pound.

Against the euro, the pound edged down to 0.8711 from a recent 6-day high of 0.8667. The next possible downside target for the pound is seen around the 0.87 region.

Looking ahead, Canada building permits for August, U.S. NFIB business optimism index for September and U.S. Redbook report is slated for release in the New York session.