GBP Steadies Despite Strong US Jobs Data Ahead of NFP Report
The British Pound (GBP) has stabilized against the US Dollar (USD) in Thursday's North American session, despite strong US jobs data reinforcing the notion that the labor market remains solid ahead of Friday's Nonfarm Payrolls report.
The GBP/USD pair trades at 1.3466 after bouncing off daily lows of 1.3404. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending August 1 came in at 199K, exceeding the prior week's print but below estimates of 202K.
The strong US jobs data suggests that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could remain focused on tackling high inflation, which has so far remained five years above the 2% goal. The Nonfarm Payrolls report is expected to come in at 80K, above June's 57K print, with the Unemployment Rate projected to remain steady at 4.2%, below the Fed's 4.5% target.
The UK's S&P Global Construction PMI rose to 44.7 last month from June's 38.4, showing an improvement despite the ongoing slowdown in the sector.