The pound sterling went up for the second consecutive week last week, climbing 0.23 percent against the US dollar and closing the week at the 1.3186 level.
This week has been a crucial one for the post-Brexit trade deal talks, though both sides have been unable to reach an agreement. Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost insisted that the UK is not changing its position in the coming trade talks, while it doesn't seem that the EU is going to give up on its demands either. The Internal Market Bill remains a controversial talking point, as Ireland expects that the trade deal won't be ratified if the UK decides to impose it.
"Even if we do get a new trade deal negotiated on both sides, if the British government is determined to continue with their Internal Market Bill to re-introduce parts of that bill that were removed by the House of Lords this week, then I think this is a deal that won't be ratified by the EU," said Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the unemployment rate for September, which stood at 4.8 percent, remained in line with the analysts' expectations and exceeded the previous month's 4.5 percent increase.
The Claimant Count Change shrank by 29.800, after going down by 40.200 in the previous month and below analysts' expectations of 36.000. The Claimant Count Change rate was at 7.3 percent, after being at 7.4 percent in the previous month.
The British Retail Consortium published the like-for-like retail sales, which went up by 5.2 percent, lower than September's 6.1 percent and below analysts' expectations of 8.4 percent. Average earnings including bonus went up by 1.3 percent in September, after going up by 0.1 percent in August, and higher than analysts' expectations of 1.1 percent. Average earnings excluding bonus climbed by 1.9 percent, after going up by 0.9 percent in the previous month and higher than analysts' forecast of 1.5 percent.
On Thursday, the Office for National Statistics reported that manufacturing production went up by 0.2 percent in September after being at 0.9 percent in August and rising less than analysts' expectation of 1 percent. In annual terms, it dropped by 7.9 percent after going down by 8.3 percent in the previous month and below analysts' expectations of 7.4 percent.
Industrial production rose by 0.5 percent after increasing by 0.3 percent, less than analysts' expectation of a 0.8 percent increase. The gross domestic product rose less than expected, at 15.5 percent (quarter-on-quarter) in the third quarter and after shrinking by 19.8 percent in the previous quarter. In annual terms, the gross domestic product went down more than expected, falling by 9.6 percent after dropping by 21.5 percent in the previous quarter.