UK Unemployment Rate rises to 4.3% in three months to March as forecast

• The Unemployment Rate in the UK edged higher to 4.3%.
• GBP/USD continues to trade in a tight range at around 1.2550.

The UK's Office for National Statistics reported on Tuesday that the ILO Unemployment Rate edged higher to 4.3% in the three months to March from 4.2%. This reading matched the market expectation.

Other details of the job report showed that the Claimant Count Change rose 8.9K, while the Employment Change was down 177K in April. Additionally, Average Earnings Excluding Bonus rose 6% (YoY) in the three months to March while Average Earnings Including Bonus were up 5.7% (YoY) in the same period.

Market reaction

These figures failed to trigger a noticeable reaction in GBP/USD and the pair was last seen trading virtually unchanged on the day slightly above 1.2550.