Focus of Wednesday's session was on UK job data. For December 2015 there were 785,900 people claiming unemployment related benefits. This was: 4,300 fewer than for November 2015 and 95,400 fewer than for a year earlier but, the lowest since March 2008. Increase by 4,100 was expected. The unemployment rate for those aged 16 and over for September to November 2015 was 5.1%. This was: down from 5.4% for June to August 2015 and down from 5.8% for a year earlier but slightly lower than the pre-downturn trough of 5.2% for late 2007 to early 2008. Also, unemployment rate fell to 5.1% in November down from October's 5.2%.
Friday was marked by Retail Sales and Public Sector Net Borrowing data. Compared with November 2015, the quantity bought in the retail industry is estimated to have decreased by 1.0%. Analysts were expecting 0.1% decrease. When comparing the 2015 annual data with 2014, the quantity bought in the retail industry was estimated to have increased by 4.5%. The amount spent in the retail industry decreased by 1.0% in December 2015 compared with December 2014 and decreased by 1.4% compared with November 2015. The value of online sales increased by 8.2% in December 2015 compared with December 2014 and decreased by 5.2% compared with November 2015.
Separate report on Public Sector Net Borrowing beat market forecasts on decline to £10.1 billion and fell to £6.9 billion. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks decreased by £4.3 billion to £7.5 billion in December 2015 compared with December 2014. Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks at the end of December 2015 was £1,542.6 billion, equivalent to 81.0% of Gross Domestic Product; an increase of £53.2 billion compared with December 2014.
This week markets will be looking at:
Prelim GDP (Thursday 10:30)
