Foreign Exchange Market Update

August 13, 2026

United States

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed that U.S. producer prices were flat in July. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand was unchanged in July after edging down 0.1% in June. The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed from 5.5% in June to 4.7% in July. The Labor Department said prices were flat month over month, as a 0.2% increase in services and a 2.2% surge in construction offset a 0.7% decrease in goods.

The report showed an extended pullback in energy prices, which tumbled by 3.1% in July. Food prices also slid by 0.9% during the month. Prices for transportation and warehousing services also slumped by 1.8%, while prices for trade services edged down by 0.1% and prices for other services climbed by 0.6%. The Labor Department also said core producer prices, which exclude prices for food, energy and trade services, rose by 0.4% in July after inching up by 0.1% in June. The annual rate of growth by core producer prices slowed from 5.0% in June to 4.7% in July.

A separate report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday showed consumer prices in the U.S. crept slightly higher in July. The Labor Department said consumer prices inched up by 0.1% in July after falling by 0.4% in June. The report also said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose by 0.2% in July after coming in unchanged in June. The annual rate of growth by consumer prices edged down from 3.5% in June to 3.4% in July, while the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices slipped from 2.6% in June to 2.5% in July. 08/13/2026 - 10:13:00 (RTTNews)

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed in the week ending on August 8th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims rose to 209,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's level of 200,000. Jobless claims increased for the third consecutive week, bouncing further off their lowest levels since September 1969.

The Labor Department also said the less volatile four-week moving average came in at 199,000, unchanged from the previous week's average. Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment benefits, fell by 22,000 to 1.777 million in the week ending on August 1. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped to 1,785,500, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's average of 1,790,750.

A more closely watched report released by the Labor Department last Friday showed that employment in the U.S. had decreased in July. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment fell by 23,000 jobs in July after rising by 20,000 jobs in June. Meanwhile, the report also said the unemployment rate edged down from 4.2% in June to 4.1% in July. 08/13/2026 - 09:47:00 (RTTNews)

Eurozone

Euros traded at 1.1534 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

Eurozone industrial production stagnated in June after rising for four months straight. Industrial output remained flat monthly in June following a 0.3% rise each in April and May. Among components, non-durable consumer goods posted the biggest monthly growth of 3.0%. This was followed by a 1.5% gain in energy output. Durable consumer goods output moved up 0.3%. Offsetting these gains, production of intermediate goods and capital goods fell 0.8% and 1.4%.

Yearly, industrial production edged up 0.1%, in contrast to the 0.1% rise in May. Industrial production in the EU27 climbed 0.2% from the previous month in June and advanced 0.6% from the previous year. Within member states of EU, the highest monthly increases were recorded in Denmark, Croatia, Lithuania, and Finland. Meanwhile, the largest decreases were reported in Luxembourg, Portugal, and Estonia. 08/13/2026 - 05:44:00 (RTTNews)

Spain's inflation rose in July. Consumer price inflation accelerated from 3.2% in June to 3.6% in July. A similar higher rate was last seen in May 2024. Likewise, EU harmonized inflation rose from 3.6% in June to 3.9% in July. At the same time, underlying inflation rose slightly from 2.9% in the previous month to 3.0%. Cost of transportation climbed 6.2% due to the rise in fuel and lubricant prices. Housing prices advanced 5.7% on higher electricity prices. Compared to the previous month, consumer prices rose at a slower pace of 0.3%, following a 0.6% gain. The harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) remained flat monthly. 08/13/2026 - 05:10:00 (RTTNews)

United Kingdom Q2 GDP Expands 0.4%

British Pound traded at 1.3497 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

The UK economy expanded moderately in the second quarter as household consumption and gross fixed capital formation drove expansion amid escalated uncertainty from the war in the Middle East. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.4% from a quarter ago, following the first quarter's 0.6% expansion. On the production side of GDP, services growth weakened from 0.8% to 0.5%. Construction output climbed 0.3%.

At the same time, industrial production showed no growth after a 0.2% rise. Within production, there was an increase of 1.0% in manufacturing and a 0.2% gain in mining and quarrying. The expenditure-side breakdown showed that growth was driven by gross fixed capital formation and household consumption. Household spending rose 0.3%, while government spending dropped 0.3%. Within gross capital formation, gross fixed capital formation climbed 1.2%. Business investment was up 1.7%.

Excluding the alignment adjustments, chained volume inventories fell by GBP 1.38 billion in the second quarter. Excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals, the trade deficit was 1.0% of nominal GDP in the second quarter. Yearly, GDP advanced 1.2% in the second quarter. Further, GDP posted a monthly growth of 0.3% in June after showing no growth in May.

The visible trade deficit widened to GBP 23.01 billion in June from GBP 21.08 billion in May. The shortfall was seen at GBP 20.6 billion. The services trade surplus dropped from GBP 17.6 billion in May to GBP 17.5 billion. As a result, total trade covering goods and services showed a shortfall of GBP 5.54 billion compared to a GBP 3.5 billion deficit in May. 08/13/2026 - 06:49:00 (RTTNews)