The GBPJPY exchange rate has GDP data from Japan and employment from the UK.
GBPJPY – Daily Chart
GBPJPY trades at 199.40, and the pair may move to the 200 level again. Support levels lie at 198.75 and 197.40.
The Japanese yen has GDP growth data ahead on Monday at 7:50 am HKT. This final reading should come close to -1.9% forecasts.
Tuesday brings the latest employment figures from the United Kingdom. That reading at 2 pm will look for an improvement on last month’s loss of 178k jobs.
The UK will soon go to the polls in a general election, and the Labour Party will lead by around 20 points, which would be the biggest win since the 1990s.
The party must prioritise the country’s jobs market as part of its growth agenda. Employment is still lower in the country than before the pandemic.
“It has been this continual growth, through recession and recovery, that has helped to pull up economic growth even as productivity has stagnated,” Tony Wilson, director of the Institute of Employment Studies, said.
However, Wilson added that employment’s reverse means the labour market risks holding back growth for the first time since the 1990s.
A fundamental problem facing the UK’s labour market is increased long-term sickness. 2.7 million people are out of work due to ill health, up from 2.1 million pre-pandemic.
For the yen, the Bank of Japan will meet next week, which will bring speculation of policy changes to reverse the currency’s weakness. Initial intervention has not led to further strength in the currency, and policymakers may use the meeting to telegraph higher yields.
