Investing.com - The pound slid to session lows against the dollar on Wednesday after data showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher in the three months to December.
GBP/USD lost 0.18% to trade at 1.6653, down from 1.6720 ahead of the data.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.6615 and resistance at 1.6740, Tuesday’s high.
The drop in the pound came after the Office for National Statistics said that the rate of unemployment in the U.K. ticked up to 7.2% in the three months to December from 7.1% in the previous three months.
Analysts had expected the jobless rate to remain unchanged.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. declined more-than-expected in January, the ONS said. The claimant count fell by a seasonally adjusted 27,600 to 1.22 million, better than expectations for a decline of 20,000 people.
Meanwhile, average earnings index rose by 1.1% in the year to December, a 0.2% increase on the previous month.
Separately, the minutes of the BoE’s February meeting showed that officials did not hold a vote before updating its forward guidance on rates this month, indicating a unanimous belief that an adjustment was necessary.
The bank updated its forward guidance last Wednesday, saying it will not raise rates until the spare capacity in the U.K. economy has been fully absorbed, which it does not see happening until 2015.
Last August the bank pledged not to consider a rate increase until the unemployment rate dropped below 7%, but that target is now set to be reached much sooner that the bank had anticipated.
Elsewhere, the euro edged higher against sterling, with EUR/GBP inching up 0.07% to 0.8252.