Australian dollar receives temporary boost

Financial and commodity markets analytics

The Australian dollar is trading higher today after the release of the latest jobless figures, which showed a slight fall in the unemployment rate.

At 9.29am (GMT) the Aussie dollar was trading at US76.71 after falling through the US76c mark in yesterday’s trading.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the unemployment rate fell to 6.3% down from 6.4% a month earlier on the back of 15,600 new positions, coming in line with expectations.

Many see the result as temporary with the RBA still committed to cutting rates for the second time this year possibly in April

"We do not view the improvement in the unemployment rate as a change in the upward trend," said Australia and New Zealand Banking group's co-head of Australian economics Riki Polygenis.

"For the RBA, the unemployment rate is only just shy of its forecast peak of 6.4 per cent," she said.

The Australian dollar is heading down towards the RBA’s target level of US75c, which may bring some level of comfort although most expect that the central bank will continue to cut rates,

"We continue to expect further easing from the RBA in the first half of the year, most likely at the next board meeting in April."

The jobless rate remains at a 13 year high as the Australian economy comes to terms with the end of the mining boom which pulled the economy along for the last 20 years,
 

"We do not view the improvement in the unemployment rate as a change in the upward trend," ANZ Bank`s co-head of Australian economics Riki Polygenis said.

"Below-trend growth outcomes -- both past and expected -- are consistent with a further gradual rise in the unemployment rate from here, with new hiring insufficient to keep pace with retrenchments in industries such as mining and