The Australian Unemployment Rate increased to 5.2 per cent in June as expected, up from 5.1 per cent in May according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Unemployment in Australia rose to a 3-month high as persons employed decreased by 27,000 in June compared to a revised increase in May by 27,800.
Furthermore, slightly weaker labor data are coming after the unexpectedly weaker housing data but strong consumer sentiment data yesterday and that have set pressure on the Australian dollar. The Aussie against the greenback fell after the release of the labor data from 1.0246 to 1.0161, dropping by 85 percentage points.