U.K. unemployment rate holds steady at 6-year low of 5.7%

Investing.com -

Investing.com - The U.K.'s unemployment rate held steady at a six-year low in January, underlining 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 was unchanged at 5.7% in the three months to January, disappointing expectations for a decline to 5.6%.

The report also showed that the claimant count fell by a seasonally adjusted 31,000 in February, compared to expectations for a decline of 30,000 people. January's figure was revised to a drop of 39,400 people from a previously reported decline of 38,600.

GBP/USD was trading at 1.4700 from around 1.4748 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7212 from 0.7188 earlier.

Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mostly lower. London's FTSE 100 tacked on 0.4%, the EURO STOXX 50 shed 0.3%, France's CAC 40 dipped 0.2%, while Germany's DAX declined 0.35%.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.