The United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics recently reported that the Unemployment Rate from June through August 2020 stood at 4.5 percent, after being at 4.1 percent between May and July. The final number was higher than analysts' 4.3 percent prediction.
The claimant count rate, which measures the number of unemployed people rose to 7.6 percent in September, after being at 7.5 percent in August. The number of unemployed people rose by 28,000 people, lower than August's 73,700, and way below the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to climb by 78,800. Average earnings remained unchanged in the three months to August after dropping by 1 percent in the previous period. Analysts had predicted a 0.5 percent contraction in average earnings. Excluding bonus, average earnings in the UK rose by 0.8 percent after climbing by 0.2 percent in the previous period.
The Statistical Office of the European Union recently published Germany's Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, which in yearly terms dropped by 0.4 percent in September, remaining unchanged from August's figure and in line with the analysts' expectations. In yearly terms, the country's Consumer Price Index dropped by 0.2 percent in September, remaining unchanged from the previous month's figure and in line with the analysts' expectations.
So far, 617,688 coronavirus cases have been reported in the United Kingdom, with a death toll of 42,875. In Germany, 331,094 cases have been reported, with 9,721 total deaths thus far. In the world, the United States leads in the number of infections, with 8,037,789 confirmed infections as well as the death toll of 220,011, followed by Brazil, India, and Russia.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new restrictions to combat the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the region. The measures include shutting down pubs and bars in places that are into the "very high" alert level.
"If we let the virus rip, then the bleak mathematics dictate that we would suffer not only an intolerable death toll from COVID, but we would put such a huge strain on our NHS," said the prime minister after announcing a three-tier lockdown strategy.
By 7:54 GMT the Pound Sterling dropped by 0.24 percent against the greenback, falling to the 1.3032 level. In the same way, the Euro went down by 0.26 percent, falling to the 1.1782 level.