Australia enjoyed another month of big job gains: 37.4K in April. This is way above expectations for a modest rise of 5K and more in line with the previous positive surprise: 60.9K back in March. The unemployment rate played along with a fall from 5.9% to 5.7%. It was projected to remain unchanged.
The details are not that great: 11.6K full-time jobs were lost while 49K were gained. However, the leap in the number of jobs is still great. The trend is upbeat and participation is up.
Earlier, the Melbourne Institute’s Inflation Expectations gauge came out at 4%, similar to the 4.1% seen last time.
AUD/USD extends its recovery
The good news sent AUD/USD above resistance at 0.7440. The pair reached a high of 0.7467. The next level to watch is 0.75. Aussie/USD had already stabilized and risen from the bottom, holding above support at 0.7375.
The Comey memo hurt the dollar across the board. While commodity currencies did not rise as fast the euro and the yen, this was helpful also for them.
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