During local trade the Australian Dollar enjoyed a brief rally against rivals including the US Dollar. The South Pacific currency rose as Australia’s unemployment rate declined to 5.5 per cent, but gains were to prove short lived.
The Australian Dollar exchange rate was trading in the region of 94.85 against the US Dollar as of 10:25 GMT
According to the latest data compiled by the Australian statistics bureau, the nation added 1,100 jobs in May. Economists had forecast a 10,000 decline.
This result, combined with April’s revised 45,000 jobs gain, allowed the unemployment rate to fall from 5.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
Although full-time employment fell by 5,300 last month part time employment increased by 6,400 and the nation’s participation rate eased to 65.2.
In response to the figures industry expert Michael Turner noted: ‘We’ve come down a tick this month, but broadly we suspect the trend is toward a higher unemployment rate.’
But the jobs data was better than expected and increased speculation regarding the likelihood of the Reserve Bank issuing a rate cut in the months ahead.
However, although the ‘Aussie’ initially strengthened after the data was published it swiftly weakened once more as declining Asian stocks and market volatility lessened the appeal of the higher-risk asset.
The Australian Dollar dropped to 94.49 US cents
The currency was also adversely affected by the news that the World Bank had cut its global growth outlook for 2013 to 2.2 per cent, down 0.2 per cent from its January forecast.
An upward correction has since seen the ‘Aussie’ trade in the region of 94.94 US cents. This afternoon’s influential US advance retail sales figures are likely to cause additional fluctuations in the AUD/USD pairing.
A positive result could increase the odds of the Reserve Bank pairing stimulus before the end of the year.
As one market strategist noted: ‘It seems investors will continue to exercise caution in the near term until we get further clarity from the Fed at next week’s Federal Open Markets Committee meeting.’
Current Exchange Australian Dollar (AUD) Rates
< Lower > Higher
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9485 >
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7110 >
The Australian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6056 >
The Australian Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1937 >
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0542 <
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4059 <
The Pound Sterling /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6515 <
The New Zealand Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8371 <
(Correct as of 10:25 GMT)
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