GBPUSD is unfazed despite UK employment figures printing mixed figures. Data from Office of National Statistics revealed that there were 33,000 more workers who claimed for unemployment benefits in October compared to what was expected at 24,200. Average hourly earnings in September also missed forecasts when it printed at 3.6% versus the consensus which was for a 3.8% uptick.
On the brighter side of things, the unemployment rate came in better than expected at 3.8%. This figure is lower than the reading for August and the forecast which were both at 3.9%. This means that there is a lower percentage of the working population who cannot find jobs while actively seeking for them.
Volatility on GBPUSD was muted. The currency pair rose around 8 pips at the wake of the report. On the hourly time frame, we can see that it has pulled back lower to the 61.8% Fib level of November 7’s swing low to the high of November 11.
If there are more bears in today’s trading, we could see GBPUSD retrace more of its gains from yesterday’s rally. It can potentially find support at the broke falling trend line which I pointed out in my post here or maybe even lower. The next suppor tlevel would be the low for November 8 at 1.2767.
On the other hand, if there are enough bulls in the market this could be the lowest level we could see GBPUSD trade today. News on the political front suggesting more political cohesion in the UK parliament could push the currency pair to test yesterday’s highs just below the 1.2900 handle.Download our latest quarterly market outlook for our longer-term trade ideas.