The British pound strengthened against the other major currencies in the early European session on Friday, after data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the ILO jobless rate came in at 5.6 percent in three months to February, down from 5.8 percent in September to November. The rate came in line with expectations.
There were 1.84 million unemployed people, down by 76,000 from September to November period.
The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowances has fallen for 29 consecutive months in March. It fell by 20,700 from February, but smaller than an expected decline of 29,500.
The claimant count fell to 2.3 percent in March, in line with expectations, from 2.4 percent in February.
Traders await the Spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, due later in the day. Reports on U.S. consumer price inflation, consumer sentiment and leading economic indicators are also in focus, for clues on the timing of a Fed rate hike.
In the Asian trading, the pound held steady against its major rivals.
In the early European trading today, the pound rose to more than a 4-week high of 1.5035 against the U.S. dollar and an 8-day high of 178.71 against the yen, from early lows of 1.4915 and 177.43, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.52 against the greenback and 180.50 against the yen.
Pulling away from an early near 2-week low of 1.4264 against the Swiss franc, the pound climbed to 1.4320. On the upside, the pound is likely to find resistance around the 1.47 area.
Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed that Swiss retail sales declined for a second straight month in February, marking its biggest annual fall on record. Retail sales dropped an adjusted 2.7 percent year-on-year following a 0.5 percent drop in January. In December, sales grew 1.8 percent from a year ago.
On a month-on-month basis, retail sales decreased 1.2 percent in February after a 2.6 percent drop in January. In December, sales rose 1.5 percent.
Against the euro, the pound edged up to 0.7195 from an early low of 0.7219. The pound may test resistance near the 0.70 region.
Looking ahead, Canada CPI for March and retail sales data for February, U.S. CPI for March, U.S. Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for April and U.S. leading indicators for March are set to be published in the New York session.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com