Investing.com - The U.K.'s unemployment rate rose unexpectedly in May, dampening optimism over the strength of the labor market, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that the rate of unemployment ticked up to a seasonally adjusted 5.6% in the three months to May, up from 5.5% in the preceding three-month period. Analysts were expecting an unchanged reading.
The report also showed that the claimant count increased by a seasonally adjusted 7,000 in June, disappointing expectations for a decline of 8,800 people. May’s figure was revised to a drop of 1,100 people from a previously reported decline of 6,500.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5608 from around 1.5657 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7063 from 0.7038 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets held on to modest losses. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3%, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.15%, France's CAC 40 declined 0.2%, while Germany's DAX slumped 0.15%.