The Australian dollar dropped today ahead of employment data later this week. Analysts think that the employment report will show weakness of the labor market, adding to signs of trouble in the nation’s economy.
Economists fear that the employment data released on January 17 will show an increase by just 2,300 in December, a poor result compared to November’s 13,900. On top of that, the unemployment rate is expected to grow by 0.2 percentage point to 5.4 percent. The unfavorable outlook for the Australian labor market weakened the Aussie today.
Global stocks were not helpful either as their drop deterred investors from riskier assets. The Standard & Poorâs 500 Index of shares fell 0.1 percent yesterday and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.4 percent.
AUD/USD fell from 1.0567 to 1.0552 as of 3:28 GMT today. EUR/AUD advanced from 1.2659 to 1.2668, but retreated from the daily high of 1.2695. AUD/JPY slipped from 94.48 to 93.89.
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