The pound fell for the third day in a row against the euro after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a surprise increase in the UK unemployment rate by 0.1% to 7.2% in the three months ended in December although the number of people classed as unemployed slipped by 125,000 to 2.34 million.
The minutes of the last Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting were also published yesterday and showed that the nine member committee voted unanimously to maintain both the Bank base rate and the stock of asset purchases unchanged for at least another month.
UK base rate has now been stuck at the historic low of 0.5% since March 2009 whilst the stock of asset purchases continue at £375 billion.
Of interest, the minutes also show that the MPC remain concerned with regard to the situation in the labour market, citing the fact that more than half of the rise in employment observed was the result of increased self-employment; that people would like to work more hours and that while the increase in employment had been widespread throughout the various economic sectors, it has been particularly prominent in the construction and real estate sectors.
The US dollar came under pressure in the afternoon after the number of US housing starts fell by 16 % to an annualised rate of 880,000 in January, down from the previous month’s reading of 1.048 million units according to the latest data from the US Commerce Department.
This leaves US housing starts still 2% below the level reached in January 2013.
In addition, housing permits, often considered to be a lead indicator for the economy, came in at 937,000, fully 5.4% below December’s level.
Just 24 hours earlier, the NAHB's index of home-builder confidence registered a large and unexpected drop of 10 points with the association referenced "unusually severe weather conditions across much of the nation along with continued concerns over the cost and availability of labour and lots".
Overnight, fresh data from China showed factory activity slowed down to a 7 month low and for the second month in a row, the flash HSBC Purchasing Managers Index fell below a reading of 50, indicating a contraction in the sector.
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