Urgent - A clear divergence in labor market data in the UK.

Data released by the British Office for National Statistics on Tuesday showed a mixed picture of labor market data and unemployment rates in the UK during September and the quarter ending in August.

According to the data, the number of new unemployment benefit claims in the UK rose by about 27,900 claims during September, which was worse than expectations that had indicated an increase of about 20,200 claims only. This came after a reported increase of 23,700 claims in July, which was positively revised to 300 claims.

At the same time, official data showed that the unemployment rate in the UK rose to 4% during the three months ending in August on a year-on-year basis, which was better compared to market expectations that indicated an unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.1%, the rate recorded in the three months ending in July.

Additionally, official statistics also revealed an increase in average wages in the UK, excluding bonuses, by 4.9% during the three months ending in August on a year-on-year basis, in line with market expectations, after the previous reading for the quarter ending in July showed an increase of 5.1% in average wages.