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UK unemployment fell to its lowest since June 2025. (Pio3, via Shutterstock.)
Unemployment in the United Kingdom recorded a surprising drop from 4.9% to 4.7% in August. That took the UK’s jobless rate to its lowest since June 2025, despite the significant disruptions caused by the energy crisis and political uncertainty.
The euro remains under significant pressure after the weekend unrest in France. The French government was locked in crisis conversation yesterday, with President Emmanuel Macron refusing the resignation of interior minister Laurent Nuñez. Bans on public gatherings were in place across several French cities last night.
The price of oil fell by around 1% yesterday as the ongoing chicken and egg battle between improved supply and new security threats played out once more. That trend would however reverse this morning as the key brent crude index hit its highest price since May.
Monday had at least begun on a more stable note for stock markets before a resumption of last week’s AI wobble dragged down global indices. The fear for investors is that higher interest rates will at the some point make the massive amounts of debt issued by the tech hyperscalers unsustainable.
The Canadian dollar approached its best level in a month against the US dollar on Monday. That followed the release of inflation data, which showed the consumer price index climbed to a four-month high of 3.1% in September.
GBP: Wages turn focus on inflation
We just heard that wage growth moderated somewhat in Britain in September. Average earnings both including and excluding bonuses came in around expectations at 3.7%. Sterling was seen slightly higher immediately after the news, which demonstrated the impressive resilience of the hiring market, although tomorrow's inflation report could yet prove more significant.GBP/USD: the past year
EUR: Political risks spread
The euro weakened against both the pound and dollar as unrest in France added to existing concerns over the country’s finances. The gap between French and German borrowing costs widened again, but fears that recent unrest would spread across the bloc dominated thoughts on Monday.GBP/EUR: the past year
USD: ‘Two-step’ Fed
The US dollar recovered on Monday after slipping to end last week. While currency markets still expect a hold at next week’s Fed meeting, they are also expecting a hike in December as part of a 'two-step' programme to control inflation. That consideration helped steady things in a week without much economic data.USD/GBP: the past year
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