Australia’s employment data for June was mixed: the land down under saw an increase of 15.9K jobs, slightly better than 12K expected and better than May’s drop of over 5.1K jobs. On the other hand, the unemployment rate surprised with a rise to 6%. In addition, May’s rate was revised up from 5.8% to 6%.
AUD/USD spiked higher but that turned sour quite quickly and the pair is now clinging to support.
The devil may be in the details: full time employment dropped by nearly 4K while the rise is due to a gain in part time employment of nearly 20K. Less full time jobs and more part time ones is not a positive sign for the economy. However, the rise of the participation rate from 64.6% to 64.7% is good news. The participation rate in the US stands at 62.8%.
To be fair, the Aussie was also hit by a smaller than expected trade balance surplus by Australia’s No. 1 trade partner, China.
AUD/USD
The Aussie was trading above the 0.94 “magnet” level. After a spike to high ground (probably on the headline gain in jobs) all the way to 0.9457, the pair dropped 100 pips and is now clinging to support at 0.9360.
Further support is at the round number of 0.93, followed by 0.9220. Resistance remains at 0.94.
For more, see the AUDUSD forecast.
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