UK PM Rishi Sunak to raise minimum wage in boost for poorest – The Times

UK Prime Minister (PM) “Rishi Sunak will announce a significant rise in the national living wage and give eight million households cost of living payments worth up to £1,100 as he prioritizes support for the poorest over universal measures,” per The Times.

The news also adds, “The Times has been told that the prime minister and Jeremy Hunt, his chancellor, will accept an official recommendation to increase the living wage from £9.50 an hour to about £10.40 an hour — a rise of nearly 10 percent. The move will benefit 2.5 million people. One government source suggested that the increase could be even higher.”

Earlier in the day, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was cited drawing lines for the new windfall tax on electricity generators, per the Financial Times (FT). “Jeremy Hunt is preparing a raid on electricity generators with a new tax on their “excess returns” as he tries to find money to pay for an inflation-linked rise in benefits and pensions while extending help for households with energy bills,” mentioned the news.

GBPUSD remains pressured

With the dicey markets and the Cable pair trader’s anxiety ahead of the key UK employment report, GBPUSD remains depressed around 1.1750, keeping the previous day’s pullback from the 11-week high.