From the UK Services PMI data was released was yesterday. UK service sector growth weakened in April, according to the latest PMI survey data from Markit and CIPS. The rate of expansion slowed for the third time in the past five months, to the weakest since February 2013. Although new business growth picked up slightly, it remained relatively subdued and business optimism was the joint-weakest in over three years. Firms commented on prevailing economic uncertainty, partly linked to the forthcoming referendum on EU membership.
In the US session
Unemployment Claims figures were released. In the week ending April 30, the advance figure for
seasonally adjusted initial claims was 274,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 257,000. The 4-week moving average was 258,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 256,000. This marks 61 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5% for the week ending April 23, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate.
There will be no data releases from the UK tomorrow. In the US session, NFP figures will be published. Analysts are anticipating increase by 203,000, while Unemployment Rate should remain unchanged at 5.0%.
Figures to watch:
Non-Farm Employment Change/Unemployment Rate (Friday 14:30)