CHFJPY Swiss Franc vs Japanese Yen

The UK job vacancies declined sharply and average wage growth eased slightly, but the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a 44-year low and the employment rate reached a record high, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.

Data showed that vacancies decreased by 20,000 from the previous quarter to 794,000 during the September to November period. From last year, vacancies plunged 59,000, which was the biggest fall since late 2009.

The ILO unemployment rate was largely unchanged at 3.8 percent in the three months to October, while the rate was expected to rise marginally to 3.9 percent. The rate was the joint lowest since late 1974.

The number of people out of work decreased by 93,000 to 1.28 million in the year to October.

At the same time, the number of employed persons increased by 24,000 to 32.8 million in the three months to October, with the employment rate reaching a record high of 76.2 percent.

Earnings excluding bonus grew at a slower pace of 3.5 percent from the previous year, after rising 3.6 percent. Including bonus, payments gained 3.2 percent.

In November, the claimant count rate rose marginally to a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent from 3.4 percent in October. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits increased by 28,800 from the previous month.

James Smith, an ING economist said, with Brexit uncertainty already making a comeback and investment set to remain low in 2020, hiring appetite is unlikely to improve significantly any time soon.

Solid labor market may keep the Bank of England away from the rate cut trigger at Thursday's meeting, Andrew Wishart, an economist at Capital Economics, said.

With Prime Minister Johnson determined not to extend the transition period, Brexit uncertainty would not disappear either. The upshot is that there is larger chance of a rate cut early next year than most other forecasters think, Wishart added.

According to the Report on Jobs, published by IHS Markit, the UK labor market conditions remained challenging in November amid election and Brexit uncertainty. The overall vacancies rose at the slowest pace since the current upturn began in October 2009.

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