The Australian dollar dropped today after the employment data turned out to be even worse than pessimistic forecasts, adding to signs of economic weakness of Australia. The currency managed to climb versus the Japanese yen. reaching the strongest level since 2008.
Australian employment unexpectedly decreased 5,500 in December after rising 17,100 in November. Analysts have promised an increase by 2,300. Moreover, the unemployment rate rose to 5.4 percent as was expected and the November value was revised by 0.1 percentage point to 5.3 percent.
Economists think that the negative domestic data is detrimental in the short term, but may be muted by other, more positive, events. The signs of economic growth in China are particularly supportive for the Australian currency.
AUD/USD fell from 1.0570 to 1.0541, reaching 1.0492 intraday, and EUR/AUD advanced from 1.2566 to 1.2682 as of 21:18 GMT today. Meanwhile, AUD/JPY climbed from 93.41 to 94.75, touching 94.99 earlier — the highest since August 2008.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Australian Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
