Prior 4.2%January payrolls change 48kPrior -24k; revised to 31kDecember employment change 72k vs 73k expectedPrior 73kDecember average weekly earnings +5.8% vs +5.6% 3m/y expectedPrior +6.5%; revised to +6.7%December average weekly earnings (ex bonus) +6.2% vs +6.0% 3m/y expectedPrior +6.6%; revised to +6.7%
As a reminder, the data release this month comes with a caveat as the methodology has been reweighted by the ONS here. As such, it might be tough to read much into the numbers. But for what it is worth, the jobless rate is marked down to its lowest since April 2023.
Besides that, there was a positive revision to the December payrolls with a positive print in January. Adding to that is better-than-expected wage numbers, which is helping to see the pound nudge a little higher. GBP/USD is up from 1.2620 to 1.2640 on the day but overall, I don’t see this as being much of a game changer for the BOE.
This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.