As per new research published on Monday, The United Kingdom lost market share in the United States, Germany and China during the COVID-19 pandemic due to global trade chaos, Brexit and poor productivity. And as per the report by Aston University’s Lloyd’s Banking Group Centre, The United Kingdom performed particularly badly due to a long-term stagnation in productivity growth.

While all countries fought with the tumult of COVID-19, the United Kingdom lost market share in its biggest export markets – the United States and Germany as per the research. “In some key export destinations – Germany, the UK and China – the UK seems to have suffered a sharper decline, experienced a slower recovery, and seen its global competitiveness dwindle,” the report said.

On the other hand, The U.S. Dollar traded positively on Friday after a government report showed jobs growth came in above expectations in February. The news helped drive the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield into a one-year high of 1.625%.

As per the US employment report, the 379k rise in headline non-farm payrolls augmented by a 38k net upward revision to the prior two months. Private sector hiring rose by 465k, dominated by the hospitality sector (+355k).  The unemployment rate fell to 6.2% against expectations from an unchanged 6.3%, while average hourly earnings rose by 0.2% as expected to be 5.3% up on a year ago – a figure still grossly distorted by the fact it is mostly lower paid workers who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, the data not being mix-adjusted.

The jobs improvement came amid falling new COVID-19 cases, quickening vaccination rates and additional pandemic relief money from the government, putting the labor market recovery back on firmer footing and on course for further gains in the months ahead.

As a added support to the greenback, Over the weekend the U.S. Senate passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Saturday as Democrats rush to send out a fresh round of aid.

GBP/USD 4 Hour Chart:

Support: 1.3768 (S1), 1.3710 (S2), 1.3640 (S3).

Resistance: 1.3896 (R1), 1.3965 (R2), 1.4024 (R3).

The new research weighs on the pound while the rest catalysts tend to favor the greenback. We expect a bullish trend for GBP/USD.