Sterling falls due to high unemployment
UK unemployment rose by 49,000 to almost 2.5 million in the three months to the end of November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. Prime Minister David Cameron said any rise in unemployment was a "huge concern".
Most analysts, as well as the government, expect the unemployment total to continue rising, in large part due to the spending cuts designed to cut the budget deficit. The British Chamber of Commerce was downbeat:
"These figures are disappointing and once again slightly worse than expected," said the group's chief economist David Kern. "For the second month in a row, unemployment is up, employment is down and the level of inactivity has seen a marked increase."
The pound fell as a result of the poor figures against most currencies including the Euro and US Dollar.
Today's Data
Today is quite quiet on the UK side, with the only data of note an Industrial trends survey. Elsewhere we have Consumer Confidence measures from the Eurozone and a monthly report from the European Central Bank.
Watch for any further comments on higher interest rates that could push GBP/EUR down. From the US there are further home sales data released in the afternoon.
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Labels: UK unemployment