Data released by the British Office for National Statistics this Thursday morning showed negative labor market data in the UK for February, as well as unemployment data and wage growth for the quarter ending in January.
According to the incoming data, the number of new unemployment claims in the UK rose by about 44,200 claims during February, which is significantly worse than the expectations that indicated an increase of about 7,900 claims only. This follows a recorded increase of 22,000 claims in January, which was positively revised from an earlier increase of 2,800 claims.
Additionally, the data showed that the unemployment rate in the UK remained stable at 4.4% over the three months ending in January on a year-over-year basis, which aligned with market expectations and the previous reading, as the unemployment rate in the UK also stood at 4.4% during the three months ending last January.
Furthermore, official statistics revealed that the average wages in the UK, excluding bonuses, increased during the three months ending in January on a year-over-year basis, at the same rate of 6.0% that the index had risen during the previous period. Expectations had also indicated an increase at this same pace.
