Australian dollar recovers on jobs data

Financial and commodity markets analytics

The Australian dollar has shot higher today after another strong jobs report with investors now predicting that a rate rise from the RBA won’t come anytime soon.

At 7.49pm (GMT) the Aussie dollar was trading at US72.90c after reaching a high of US73.38c and sharply up from US72.27c in yesterday’s trade.

The Australian economy created 71,400 jobs last month coming in well above expectations, while the unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent after analysts predicted a number of 6 percent.

The news was a boost for RBA governor Glen Stevens who noted in a recent speech that Australia is gradually transitioning away from the mining boom and other industries are starting to pick up.

The market is now placing around a 30 percent chance that the RBA will cut rates next year down from over 70 percent before the jobs announcement.

The employment figures, which were the strongest in 15 years, are a little strange to some analysts who noted that while overall, the Australian economy is shrinking, the jobs market is strengthening, casting doubt over the accuracy of the data.