The unemployment situation in the U.K. continues to remain in the doldrums according to the Office of National Statistics, which released its February report earlie. The Claimant Count Change, which represents the numbers of unemployed in the U.K., was unexpectedly higher at 7.2K; analysts had forecast a 6.0K rise in February from January’s upwardly revised 7.0K. Ahead of the data release, the GBP/USD pair was trading higher at 1.5700 and is now higher still at 1.5716, well off the Asian session low of 1.5649.
On OpenBook, traders’ sentiment for the GBP/USD pair is slightly skewed by the bears with quite a few traders establishing sell orders; a decidedly bullish trend is apparent on the EUR/GBP pair which is currently trading at 0.8315. OpenBook guru PPVijayakumar, who has primarily traded the EUR/GBP to great success, recently began trading the GBP/USD and EUR/USD pairs as well. The EUR/GBP has provided a return of 1.6% on a near 97% allocation over the past six months, and it would seem that this guru is now beginning to find his groove in the GBP/USD pair. Over the past 24-hours he has hit his TP on a handful of trades in both pairs, scalping profits ranging from 1.36% to 2.60%. He currently has one long position open in the GBP/USD pair, which is showing a 7.60% profit and which targets 1.5750. This guru, who has 673 copiers and over 5,000 followers, has recorded steady gains over the period, with his 6-month statistic showing a profit of 96.6%.
Also according to the ONS report, both the ILO Unemployment rate (measured over 3-months) and the Claimant Count Rate were unchanged at 8.4% and 5%, respectively, in line with analysts’ predictions. With a total of 1.612 million individuals claiming jobless benefits – the highest in almost 2½ years – the pressure on the government to grow the economy will likely be ratcheted up. The question is will the government act on that pressure, given their commitment to austerity and a balanced budget.
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