UK Claimant Count Rate Holds Flat; Jobless Claims Falls to 20.8K

The U.K. Unemployment Rate held flat at 5.0% for September with the Jobless Claims Change rising 20.8K amid economists’ expectations of 24.5K.The data highlight’s an improved outlook for the U.K. as fewer people signed on for jobless benefits. Overall, unemployment was 2.47 million for August from the 3-months through July. Employers are limiting job losses as speculation of a recovery persists in addition to raising the earnings of current employees. Average Earnings including bonuses declined to 1.6% in the quarter through August, but base earnings excluding bonuses grew 1.9% in the same period. Despite this, policy makers are likely to continue the current stimulus programs as consumers scale bank spending amid job uncertainty in coordination with the ambiguity in recent global events.