Latest data released by ONS - 16 April 2019

  • Prior +3.4%; revised to +3.5%
  • Average weekly earnings (ex bonus) +3.4% vs +3.4% 3m/y expected
  • Prior +3.4%; revised to +3.5%
  • ILO unemployment rate 3.9% vs 3.9% expected
  • Prior 3.9%
  • Employment change 179k vs 181k expected
  • Prior 222k
  • March jobless claims change 28.3k
  • Prior 27.0k; revised to 26.7k
  • March claimant count rate 3.0%
  • Prior 2.9%

The report is largely within expectations - or at least the key figures are - so there's not much to really gather from the release here. A positive takeaway is that there is an upside revision to wages in January, so that's a plus at least. In real terms, average weekly earnings in the three months to February grew by 1.6% y/y - the largest increase since mid-2016.

I don't see the data here being a game changer for the pound really. In the big picture, it matters little but the fact that it came in largely within expectations means that in the short-term traders don't have much to work with either.

Cable continues to hold steady upon the data release here at 1.3092 currently. EUR/GBP is little changed on the day as well at 0.8637 at the moment.