UK hiring falling by fastest pace in over 3 years

According to recruitment and employment Confederation and the accounting firm of KPMG, in August 2023, UK hiring witnessed its steepest decline since mid-2020, as employers hired fewer permanent staff through recruitment agencies due to economic concerns.

• The hiring rate fell to 42.4 the lowest since the 34.3 in June 2020 when the country was in a lockdown due to Covid 19 pandemic

Temporary staff hiring usually increases when the outlook is uncertain. However, it showed the weakest growth in nine months, primarily as more individuals sought permanent positions.

The survey results paralleled other indicators showing the labor market is loosening which is welcome news for the Bank of England which last week raised interest rates for the 14th meeting in a row to 5.25%. They have been concerned about high wage growth. Recent Unemployment data showed a rise to 4% in the 3 months to May which was 16 months high. That was the good news. The not-so-good news was that despite the rise in the unemployment rate, annual wage growth remained at a record high of 7.3%.

The GBPUSD rebounded higher after dipping to the lowest level since June 30 on the Thursday before rebounding higher on Friday. Looking at the hourly chart, the price is trading around its 100 hour moving average 1.27466. There is a swing area between 1.2738 and 1.2759 that if broken would have traders looking toward the high price from Friday at 1.2790. Above that is the falling 200 hour moving average 1.28108.