Investing.com - The pound edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after the release of upbeat U.K. employment data, although concerns over the ramifications of the Brexit on the U.K. economy continued to weigh.
GBP/USD hit 1.3158 during European morning trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3157, adding 0.34%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.2968, the low of July 12 and resistance at 1.3313, the high of July 18.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in the three months to May from April’s reading of 5.0%, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading.
The claimant count rose by 400 in June, compared to expectations for a increase of 3,500 people, and following an advance of 12,200 a month earlier.
Meanwhile, the average earnings index, including bonuses, rose by 2.3% in the three months to May, in line with forecasts and after increasing by 2.0% in the three months to April.
Excluding bonuses, wages rose by 2.2%, below forecasts for a 2.3% increase and following a 2.2% increase in the three months to April.
But investors remained cautious after the International Monetary Fund downwardly revised its projection for global economic growth in 2016 to 3.1%, from the prior 3.2%, though expecting a rebound to 3.4% in 2017.
The IMF cut its U.K. growth forecast to 1.7% from the prior 1.9% for this year and slashing 2017 growth to 1.3% from April’s estimate of 2.2% due to the Brexit.
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP sliding 0.33% to 0.8379.