AUD/USD trims losses after above-forecast Aussie Employment data

• Upbeat Australian data is helping the Aussie dollar recover losses. 
• Australia’s economy unexpectedly added jobs in March, although Full-time employment dropped. 
• The jobs data does not give a true picture of the extent of the damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak. 

AUD/USD has bounced up from session lows on the back of the above-forecast Australian jobs data for March released at 01:30 GMT, although the gains could be reversed due to lingering recession fears and the haven demand for the US dollar. 

The pair is now trading at 0.6305, representing marginal losses on the day, having hit a session low of 0.6282 ahead of the data release. 

The Australian economy added 5.9K jobs in March versus expectations for 40K drop, having added 27.3 jobs in February. Meanwhile, the jobless rate rose to 5.2% from February’s 5.1%, missing the expected print of 5.5% by a big margin.  Partime Employment rose by 6.4K, Fulltime jobs dropped by 0.4K.

While the Aussie dollar is drawing bids on a better-than-expected print, the gains could be short-lived, as the employment survey does not give a true picture of the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This is because the survey was conducted in the first two weeks of March and the social distancing measures were made strict in the second half of the month. 

Further, the US dollar, a global reserve currency, has again become a preferred safe haven amid heightened fears of a coronavirus-led recession in the global economy and the resulting anti-risk market mood. At press time, the futures tied to the S&P 500 are reporting a 0.38% decline.

Technical levels