Sterling rallied against the dollar in American trade off September 10 lows, following earlier US labor data and amid a lack thereof from Britain.
As of 03:44 GMT, GBP/USD rose 0.63% to 1.3022, with an intraday high at 1.3041, and a three-week low at 1.2962.
Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell 8 thousand in the week ending September 29 to 207 thousand, while continuing claims fell 13 thousand to 1.650 million in the week ending September 22.
Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles spoke about trends in community banks at the Community Banking in the 21st Century conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.