The European market session was focused on the UK jobs report which saw the unemployment rate remain unchanged at 3.7% in the final three months of 2022.
Even so, what investors are more focused on is the wage growth figure which is the main indicator of consumer inflation.
Wages excluding bonuses rose by 6.7% in the October to December period, beating market expectations for a sustained increase of 6.5%.
The reading is also the highest since records began in 2001.
Nevertheless, wage growth including bonuses recorded the slowest increase since July with an increase of 5.9% on an annual basis compared to 6.5% previously.
In addition, the number of jobless claims was reported to have decreased by 12,900 in January, compared to an increase of 19,700 in the previous month.
The rate of wage growth in Britain is often scrutinized by the Bank of England (BOE) to gauge how far interest rates can be raised.
In this context, when the wage rate increases, it means that the central bank has to increase the interest rate.
The BOE has raised interest rates from 0.1% to 4% to combat inflation, and markets now expect rates to peak at 4.5% by mid-year.
The pound's initial reaction saw the currency jump briefly to around 1.2170 against the US dollar.
