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The Pound Sterling (GBP) rebounds\u00a0against its major peers in the early North American session on\u00a0Thursday.\u00a0The British currency bounces back\u00a0after the\u00a0Bank of England (BoE) keeps interest rates steady at 4.5%, as expected. Eight out of nine Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members voted for leaving borrowing rates at their current levels, while one supported a 25 basis points (bps) interest rate reduction against two anticipated by market participants.<\/p>\n
BoE<\/a>\u00a0Governor Andrew Bailey has guided that there is a lot of uncertainty at the moment, but still, he thinks that the monetary policy is on a gradually declining path.\u00a0In the February policy meeting, the BoE also guided a ‘gradual and cautious’ monetary easing approach after reducing\u00a0borrowing rates<\/a> by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.5%. The BoE has raised the\u00a0Gross Domestic Product<\/a> (GDP) forecast for the current quarter to 0.25% from 0.1%.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, the British currency faced slight pressure after the release of the United Kingdom (UK) labor market data for three months ending in January. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the ILO Unemployment Rate came in at 4.4%, which aligns with expectations and the prior reading. The UK economy added 144K fresh workers, significantly higher than 107K additions in the three months ending December.<\/p>\n Average Earnings Excluding bonuses, a key measure of wage growth that has been a major driver of high inflation in the services sector, rose in line with estimates and the former release of 5.9%. Technically, upbeat employment and steady wage growth data are a favorable scenario for the British currency. However, market participants see wage growth momentum softening and employment growth slowing in the near term as business owners are planning to freeze hiring plans amid dissatisfaction over the UK government\u2019s decision to increase employers\u2019 contributions to social security schemes.<\/p>\n UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced an increase in employers\u2019 contribution to National Insurance (NI) from 13.8% to 15% in the Autumn Budget, which will be executed from April.<\/p>\n Such a scenario would be unfavorable for the Pound Sterling as easing labor market conditions could force Bank of England<\/a> (BoE) officials to ditch their \u2018gradual and cautious\u2019 monetary easing approach guided in the February policy meeting.<\/p>\n The table below shows the percentage change of the British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.<\/p>\nBritish Pound PRICE Today<\/h2>\n