Aussie Rallies After Employment Data, Fails to Gain on Pound

The Australian dollar rose today after the release of a positive employment report in Australia. The gains were limited against most rivals, though, and the Aussie failed to rally versus the Great Britain pound.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the number of employed Australians increased by 29,100 last month in seasonally adjusted terms. The actual value was slightly smaller than the 30,200 gain predicted by analysts. The increase was the result of gains in full-time employment by 59,000, whereas part-time employment fell by 29,800. Westpac Banking Corporation pointed out in its report that the Victoria state was the biggest contributor to the employment growth. But the data was collected before the lockdown in Melbourne, which will affect the March report. The unemployment rate fell from 6.6% in December to 6.4% in January, below the 6.5% level predicted by forecasts. The participation rate remained almost unchanged at 66.1%.
Now, traders wait for Friday’s data. Specifically, Markit will release its flash estimates of the manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers’ Indices for this month, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release a preliminary report on retail sales for January. Economists predicted that the retail sales report will show an increase of 2.1% after a drop of 4.1% in the preceding month.
AUD/USD rallied from 0.7748 to 0.7777 as of 11:42 GMT today. EUR/AUD edged down to 1.5519 from the opening level of 1.5530 but bounced from the session low of 1.5506, which was the lowest level since December 2018. At the same time, GBP/AUD climbed from 1.7866 to 1.7924.
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Original from: www.earnforex.com