Ella 
In early Asian trading on Friday, GBP/USD rose slightly and was above the mid-1.2600 level. A lower US dollar has provided some support for GBP/USD. As of press time, GBP/USD was trading at 1.2663, with an intraday increase of 0.02%.
U.S. initial jobless claims fell to 210,000 in the week ended February 17, down from 213,000 in previous weeks. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits fell to 1.862 million, lower than expected and last week. Reports showing the U.S. labor market remains strong may persuade the Federal Reserve to delay cutting interest rates.
Investors have pushed back expectations for the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut from May to June due to a solid job market and higher-than-expected inflation in January.
On Thursday, the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in February rose to 51.5 from the previous value of 50.7, which was better than the expected value of 50.5 and hit the highest level in 16 months. Meanwhile, the services PMI fell to 51.3 in February from 52.5 in January, weaker than expectations of 52.00.
In terms of sterling, the preliminary value of the UK manufacturing purchasing managers index in February was 47.1, lower than the expected value of 47.5 and the previous value of 47.0. The services PMI was unchanged at 54.3, but higher than expectations of 54.1. Finally, the composite PMI came in at 53.3, below expectations and the previous reading of 52.9.
