Latest data released by ONS - 11 August 2020
- Prior -28.1k; revised to -68.5k
- Claimant count rate 7.5%
- Prior 7.3%; revised to 7.2%
- June ILO unemployment rate 3.9% vs 4.2% expected
- Prior 3.9%
- June employment change -220k vs -300k expected
- Prior -125k
- June average weekly earnings -1.2% vs -1.1% 3m/y expected
- Prior -0.3%
- June average weekly earnings (ex bonus) -0.2% vs -0.1% 3m/y expected
- Prior +0.7%
Slight delay in the release by the source. It is tough to really make sense of the figures here considering that the UK government furlough program is still largely masking underlying conditions in the economy and the labour market.
Jobless claims increased in July after a marked decrease (better revision) in June and the unemployment rate at the end of Q2 is still holding relatively steady. But the change in employment is rather large though (Q2 drop biggest since 2009).
ONS says that survey data shows employment is weakening and unemployment is largely unchanged because of increases in economic activity.
On a side note, wage growth continues to dig deeper into negative territory and that doesn't bode well for price pressures in general and will be a point of concern for BOE policymakers down the road if the trend persists into late Q3 and Q4.
