• The Pound Sterling slides below 1.3000 against the US Dollar as UK Average Earnings decelerated in the three months ending in May.
• UK labor market reports the addition of fresh payrolls against a severe drawdown in the three months ending in April.
• Rising expectations for Fed rate cuts in September have weighed on the US Dollar.

The Pound Sterling (GBP) exhibits a subdued performance against its major peers in Thursday’s London session. The British currency drops as United Kingdom (UK) Average Earnings data, a key measure of wage growth that fuels inflation in the service sector and has been a major barrier to the Bank of England’s (BoE) confidence for interest rate cuts, decelerated as expectedly.

Annual Average Earnings (Including and Excluding bonuses) rose by  5.7% in the three months ending in May, below the 5.9% and 6%, respectively, from the previous month. Though the wage growth momentum slowed, it is still higher than what is needed to be consistent for achieving price stability.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that employers hired 19K job-seekers in the three months ending in May, against a drawdown of 140K employees in the previous reading. In the same period, the ILO Unemployment Rate was recorded at 4.4%, remaining in line with estimates and the former release.

Expectations for the BoE to begin reducing interest rates from the August meeting have already diminished due to sticky core Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June. UK’s core CPI grew steadily by 3.5% due to sticky service inflation data.