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According to Reuters, the pound was down by over 0.5 per cent against its US counterpart after the news, which showed that employment in the country had declined by more than expected.
The British currency dropped to $1.6636 from the $1.6580 it had been priced at before the announcement, which revealed that 190,000 people lost their jobs in the country during October.
Investors opted to minimise their exposure to riskier currencies on the news, while fears that the US economy may recover more slowly than previously expected were also raised by the publication of the statistics.
Unemployment in the US has now reached 10.2 per cent - a high of 26-and-a-half years - and the number of jobs lost was higher than the 175,000 predicted by analysts in a poll conducted by the news agency.
Prior to the announcement sterling had been trading close to a two-week high aganst the dollar, having been boosted by the Bank of England stating yesterday that it is extending quantitative easing.
Posted by Chris Weaver
