GBP EUR Rebounds on UK Employment Figures

The GBP EUR exchange rate was 0.27% higher on Tuesday after the latest UK employment figures offered support. Job vacancies in the country are at a record high, according to the ONS. The latest figures remove fears over the end of furlough and also support a BoE rate hike.

The GBP to EUR trades back near the 1.1800 key level after the figures.

Employment figures ahead but coronavirus cases lurk

The number of job vacancies in the UK has hit a record high, according to the latest ONS figures.

Vacancies reached hit 1.1 million between July and September, the Office for National Statistics said, which marks the highest level since records began in 2001.

The largest increase in vacancies was in the retail sector and also for vehicle mechanics, the ONS said. The UK unemployment rate was also shown to be 4.5%, compared to 4% before the pandemic.

The ONS said the number of employees on payrolls showed another monthly increase, rising by 207k to a record 29 million in September.

“The jobs market has continued to recover from the effects of the coronavirus, with the number of employees on payroll in September now well exceeding pre-pandemic levels,” said Darren Morgan, director of economics at the ONS.

“Vacancies also reached a new one-month record in September, at nearly 1.2 million, with our latest estimates suggesting that all industries have at least as many jobs on offer now as before the onset of Covid-19.”

The latest figures helped to soothe fears over the ending of the furlough and also support one element of the BoE’s requirements for a rate rise.

Europe’s green transition is ‘management by chaos’ says analyst

Johannes Benigni, chairman of JBC Energy Group, told CNBC that European leaders have created chaos in their transition to cleaner energy.

Bengini also said that even if Russia opens up the energy taps into the winter, Europe is still only around 75% of gas stocks. The energy analyst criticized the fast pace of the transition and the management of those who want to appear green”.

Bengini discussed how hard it was to switch from dirtier fuels such as coal without a more solid natural gas infrastructure and said that the European leaders were conducting ‘management by chaos’.

Yesterday, energy analysts Wood MacKenzie said that ‘the sky is the limit’ for gas prices in Europe if the winter weather is bad.

“There is a risk storage levels could drop to zero,” said Wood Mackenzie VP of Gas and LNG Research Massimo Di Odoardo.

Goldman Sachs also commented on the Russian gas outlook, saying:

“In our view, uncertainty remains regarding potential Russian gas flows to Northwest Europe this winter”.

Further economic data saw European and German ZEW economic sentiment coming in lower than forecasts. Germany’s figure was 22.3 compared to expectations of 24 and marked a steep downfall from the 84.4 highs back in May. The ZEW Economic Sentiment Index measures analysts’ optimism about the economy the next 6 months.

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