Australian Dollar Exchange Rate shoots up to 15-month high vs US Dollar

Australian Dollar Rate Outlook

The Australian dollar exchange rate shot up almost three quarters of a cent to a 15-month high immediately after the release of better-than-expected employment figures. At 12.00pm AEDT, the dollar was trading at $US0.9362/66, up from yesterday's close of $US0.9294/99. During the local session, the unit traded between $US0.9298 and $US0.9371, its highest point since August 2008.

Nomura chief economist Stephen Roberts said the Australian dollars strength came after the release of unemployment data. "Those figures were stronger than expected," Mr Roberts said.
"We've had back to back monthly increases now in employment, which has broken a bit of that sore tooth for the time being where employment was always alternating between a good month and a negative month in terms of change."

Australia's unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 5.8 per cent in October, compared with unrevised 5.7 per cent in September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

Total employment rose by 24,500 to 10.832 million in October, seasonally adjusted. Michael of Sydney Full-time employment rose by 2,900 to 7.591 million in the month and part-time employment was up by 21,500 to 3.241 million. The participation rate in October was 65.2 per cent, compared with 65.2 per cent in September.

The median market forecast was for total employment to have declined by 10,000 in October, an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent and a participation rate of 65.2 per cent. Mr Roberts said Australia needed employment growth because the labour force was growing faster. "So without relatively firm employment growth, the unemployment rate just slightly drifts up," he said.

The Australian dollars performance was strong but it still had some way to go to reach the highs of US$0.9500 in August and US$0.9850 in July last year. "Today it's done a fair bit of work," he said. "This number has given it a boost for the time being."

Mr Roberts forecast the Australian dollar would trade around the US0.9370-80 mark and drop back before the close of domestic trade.

To read more please visit http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,26340135-31037,00.html

Pounds to Australian Dollars = 1.7820
Euros To Australian Dollars = 1.6060
Australian Dollars to US Dollars = 0.9295
Australian Dollars to New Zealand Dollars = 1.2625

Bye For Now

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