The pound weakened slightly against the euro and the dollar yesterday due to the recent vaccine dispute, in which the EU has threatened to impose a ban on vaccine imports to Britain. However, sterling is still at strong levels.
European leaders are expected to speak with the Prime Minister later this week on the issue. Yesterday, Boris Johnson also warned that the third wave of coronavirus infections sweeping through Europe could “wash up on our shores”.
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, will speak today, following speeches from two other BoE officials.
Figures released this morning show that the unemployment rate in the UK edged down to 5% in the three months to January, from 5.1% in the previous period and below market forecasts of 5.2%. Still, the jobless rate remains the highest in 5 years.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the UK increased by 86.6 thousand to 2.7 million in February, the biggest rise since last May.
