Pound Slides On Downbeat Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The British pound weakened against other major currencies in the European session on Tuesday, after data showed Britain's unemployment rate rose for the first time since July and wage growth eased, adding to evidence of a cooling labor market.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics showed that the ILO jobless rate rose to 3.9 percent in three months to January from 3.8 percent in the prior period. The rate was seen unchanged at 3.8 percent.

At the same time, the employment rate came in at 75.0 percent.

Average earnings excluding bonus gained 6.1 percent in three months to January. The rate was forecast to climb 6.2 percent, the same rate as seen in the preceding period.

Including bonus, earnings increased 5.6 percent, slightly slower than economists' forecast of 5.7 percent.

The estimated number of vacancies declined 43,000 sequentially to 908,000 in three months to February. Vacancies decreased for the 20th consecutive period.

Data showed that claimant count increased by 16,800 from the previous month to 1.585 million.

In January, there were 203,000 working days lost due to labor disputes.

In the Asian session today, the pound held steady against its most major rivals such as the euro, the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc. Meanwhile, the pound rose against the yen. If the pound extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.10 against the franc, 1.26 against the greenback and 0.86 against the euro.

In the European trading now, the pound fell to an 8-day low of 1.1202 against the Swiss franc, a 5-day low of 1.2776 against the U.S. dollar and a 4-day low of 0.8549 against the euro, from early highs of 1.1250, 1.2824 and 08526, respectively.

Moving away from an early 4-day high of 189.20 against the yen, the pound slipped to 188.24. On the downside, 185.00 is seen as the next support level for the pound. Looking ahead, U.S. CPI data for February, U.S. Redbook report and U.S. Federal Government monthly budget balance for February are due to be released in the New York session.