Sterling wobbled against the dollar and euro on Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected rise in average earnings tempered some expectations for a Bank of England interest rate rise in November.
The Office for National Statistics said average annual pay growth picked up to 4.4 percent in the three months to July, its fastest pace since April 2005, but lower than analysts' forecasts for a rise to 4.5 percent.
The jobless claimant count, meanwhile, fell by 3,900 in August, after a revised decline of 1,000 in July. That was the sharpest fall since January 2005.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair had already given a lead on how the unemployment figures would turn out when speaking at the Trade Union Congress meeting on Tuesday.
"The news in itself was not a big surprise - the headline earnings came in slightly weaker than expected. They are still pretty close to the MPC's upward limit of 4.5 percent," Barclays Capital currency strategist Adarsh Sinha said.
By 1423 GMT, sterling stood at $1.8743, flat on the day but down from $1.8748 seen just before the data. Against the euro, it was steady at 67.69 pence.
UK gilt futures extended gains on the back of the data.
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