Australian Dollar Falls as Unemployment Grows

The Australian dollar fell today after the jobs data came out much worse than expected, prompting speculation that the central bank cut its interest rate.

The number of people employed in Australia fell by 9,700 in August, with nothing close to the median estimate of an advance by 10,700. Reduction of July was revised from only 100 to 4100. The employment of the poor results in the unexpected increase in the unemployment rate to 5.3 percent. The bad data that spurred speculation the Reserve Bank of Australia will be forced to reduce its key rate cash has remained unchanged on 6 September for the ninth consecutive time.


AUD/USD traded near 1.0632 today as of 9:57 GMT after falling from 1.0659 to 1.0571. AUD/JPY traded at about 82.22, rebounding after it dropped from 82.34 to 81.78.