Economic calendar: Strong reading from the UK labour market, German ZEW in focus

Key takeaways

The UK labor market data surprised to the upside.
Germany's ZEW economic sentiment survey is in the spotlight today.
3M, Charles Schwab, and General Motors are set to report quarterly earnings.

Key takeaways

The UK labor market data surprised to the upside.
Germany's ZEW economic sentiment survey is in the spotlight today.
3M, Charles Schwab, and General Motors are set to report quarterly earnings.

Today's macroeconomic calendar is relatively light, with Germany's ZEW economic sentiment survey expected to be the key release of the day. Meanwhile, the latest UK labor market data showed surprising resilience, suggesting that employment conditions remain strong despite elevated interest rates. Employment growth comfortably beat expectations, the increase in unemployment was far smaller than forecast, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9%. Although wage growth came in slightly below expectations, the overall report reinforces the view that the UK labor market remains in solid shape.

Economic calendar

08:00 UK – Employment Change (May): -4k, versus -8k expected and +2k previously.

Unemployment Rate: 4.9%, in line with expectations (4.9%) and unchanged from the previous reading (4.9%).
Unemployment Change: 6.7k, versus 29.4k expected and 31.2k previously.
Employment Change (3M/3M): 147k, versus 80k expected and 100k previously.
Average Weekly Earnings YoY: 4.3%, below the 4.5% forecast and 4.4% previously.
Average Weekly Earnings (Ex-Bonus) YoY: 3.4%, in line with expectations (3.4%) and unchanged from the previous reading (3.4%).

08:00 Switzerland – Trade Balance: CHF 5.224 billion, compared with CHF 6.110 billion previously (no consensus forecast).

10:00 Eurozone – ECB Bank Lending Survey

11:00 Germany – ZEW Economic Sentiment: 15.3 expected vs. 10.5 previously.

11:00 Germany – ZEW Current Conditions: -77.7 expected vs. -81.0 previously.
11:00 Eurozone – ZEW Economic Sentiment: 9.5 previously.

14:15 US – Weekly Employment Change (ADP): 19.75k previously.

22:30 US – Weekly API Oil Inventory Report

Gasoline inventories: +8.2% previously
Distillate inventories: -1.664 million barrels previously
Cushing inventories: +2.3 million barrels previously
Crude oil inventories: -0.564 million barrels previously

Earnings calendar

Around 12:30 ET: General Motors, 3M, and Charles Schwab are scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 earnings.

GBPUSD chart (D1 timeframe)

The British pound strengthened following the upbeat labor market report and is approaching its 50-day exponential moving average (EMA50) near 1.3440. A sustained move above 1.3500 could signal the beginning of a stronger bullish impulse, while the 1.3420 area remains an important support level.

Source: xStation 5

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