NewsBreak: Sterling Struggles to Hold Gains after U.K. Jobs Report

Investing.com - The British pound struggled to hold gains against the U.S. dollar and the euro on Tuesday after the U.K. employment report for July showed solid wage growth and a slight decrease in the unemployment rate. Annual wage growth hit 4% for the first time since 2008 but the currency remains tied to the unfolding drama over Brexit.

GBP/USD at 1.2329 by 04:40 AM ET (08:40GMT) , EUR/GBP at 0.8952

Average weekly earnings +4.0%, highest since June 2008; average weekly earnings (ex bonus) +3.8%; unemployment rate 3.8%

The jobs report came as parliament was suspended for five weeks and after Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost another attempt to hold a general election, meaning any election will not be held after the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline.

"The economy is tighter than you'd expect based on the Bank of England's stance," said Lena Komileva, managing director of G+ economics, via Twitter. "But labor-intensive industries aren't producing strong GDP growth and jobs are concentrated in low profit-margin businesses."

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