Pound Rises Against Dollar After U.S. Jobs Data Release Misses Estimates

The pound posted its first weekly gain against the dollar in a month after a report showed U.S. employers added fewer jobs than forecast last month.

The U.K. currency declined against the euro. U.S. payrolls increased 39,000 in November, less than the most pessimistic projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since April, while hours worked and earnings stagnated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

The reason the pound gained “is obviously the U.S. labor market report,” said Hans-Guenter Redeker, head of global currency strategy at BNP Paribas SA in London. “Sterling’s pretty much impacted by developments in the U.S. dollar and we have seen sterling rebounding.”

The pound appreciated 1 percent to $1.5752 at 5.24 p.m. in London, a weekly gain of 1 percent. It weakened 0.3 percent to 84.94 pence per euro, little changed over the week.

A U.K. index of growth in services businesses published by Markit Economics Ltd. and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply today stayed close to a four-month high in November.

U.K. government bonds fell, pushing the 10-year yield to 3.42 percent. The two-year note yield was little changed at 1.02 percent. Gilts posted a weekly decline with the 10-year yield rising seven basis points.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net.