The currency markets were mostly subdued but volatility spiked in the British pound.

The currency pair turned volatile on news reports about breakthroughs on the Brexit talks.

However the Pound sterling was seen easing back towards the end of week with no news being confirmed.

The euro was seen trading on the back foot amid lack of clear fundamentals and investors likely waiting for next week’s ECB meeting.

U.S. wage growth rises, unemployment rate steady

The U.S. monthly payrolls report released on Friday showed that after a weak report in July, employment increased and beat expectations for August.

The official data released by the U.S. department of Labor showed that the economy added 201,000 jobs in August.

This was higher than the median estimates which forecast an average of 191,000 during the month.

The data for July was revised down to show 147,000 jobs for July.

Employment hiring came across all sectors from services and healthcare to transportation and mining.

The U.S. unemployment rate however was steady at 3.9%. Economists polled expected the unemployment rate to fall to 3.8%.

The unemployment rate was flat during the month after a measure of household survey showed that employment slumped by 469,000.

On the brighter side, wage growth accelerated

Wages in the United States rose by $0.10 on average. On a month over month basis, this was a 0.4% increase to $27.15.

This was the biggest monthly jump in average hourly earnings since December 2017.

Economists polled expected the wage growth to rise at a slower pace of 0.2%.

On an annualized basis, average hourly earnings rose 2.9% on the year.

This was higher compared to the previous months’ annual gains of 2.7%.

The payrolls report is more or less likely to confirm the view about the Fed rate hike this month.

Bank of Canada leaves interest rates unchanged

Inflation rate in Japan was seen staying steady in July despite higher energy costs.

However, inflation was still below the BoJ’s 2% inflation target rate, data showed last week.

The BoJ’s measure of core inflation was seen rising 0.5% on the year in July.

This was slightly higher than the forecasts of 0.4%. The BoJ’s core inflation data was close to the national core inflation which was seen rising 0.8%.

Core prices were seen rising for the nineteenth consecutive month as the index rose to 100.9 from the base level of 100.00 Utility prices were the main driver with electricity, gas and other energy products registering an increase.

Price of hospitality also increase while to the downside, durable household items and cost of housing declined.

Lack of structural economic reforms from the government has kept consumer prices flat.

The Bank of Japan had last month tweaked its monetary policy where it said that it would take years for inflation to hit the 2% inflation target rate.

Australia GDP rises 0.9% in second quarter

The second quarter gross domestic product report from Australia was released last week.

Official data showed that the GDP rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.9% on the quarter in the three months ending June 2018.

The data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics beat forecasts of a 0.7% increase.

The first quarter GDP was also revised higher from 1.0% which was initially reported to 1.1%.

On an annualized basis, Australia’s GDP was seen rising 3.4% on the year.

This exceeded forecasts of a 2.9% increase and was up from 3.1% from the previous quarter.

The GDP gains came on an increase from the final household consumption expenditure.

Household expenditure increased 0.7% during the second quarter contributing 0.4 percentage points to the GDP.

The GDP report comes a day after the RBA left its monetary policy unchanged.

However, the RBA sounded upbeat in its monetary policy statement and the gain in the second quarter GDP was in line with the central bank’s estimates.

The RBA also expects inflation to gradually rise over the next two years as it expects wage growth to pick up in the coming months.