Investing.com - The jobless rate in the U.K. fell to the lowest level since mid-2008 in September, underlining optimism over the health of the labor market, official data showed on Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics said that the rate of unemployment dipped to 5.3% in the three months to September from 5.4% in the preceding three-month period. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to hold steady at 5.4%.
The report also showed that the claimant count rose by a seasonally adjusted 3,300 in October, disappointing expectations for an increase of 1,500 people, and following a gain of 500 a month earlier, whose figure was revised from a previously reported gain of 4,600.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5141 from around 1.5170 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7095 from 0.7081 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets held on to gains. London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.6%, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.7%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.65%, while Germany's DAX jumped 1.1%.