AUD/USD keeps losses as Australia's jobless rate ticks higher
- AUD/USD trades 0.34% lower on the day at 0.7137.
- Australia's economy shed 29.5K jobs in September, validating RBA's dovish bias.
- RBA's Lowe said early Thursday that rates could be cut to 0.10%.
The Aussie dollar remains on the offer, keeping the AUD/USD pair on the defensive with the Aussie data released at 00:30 GMT highlighting renewed labor market weakness and strengthening the case for an immediate interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia in November.
The economy shed 29.5K jobs in September versus expectations for 35K losses and down from August's 111K additions. The seasonally adjusted Unemployment Rate ticked higher to 6.9% versus expectations for a rise to 7.1% from 6.8%.
The part-time jobs fell by 9.4K in September versus 74.8K additions in August, while the full-time employment declined by 20.1K versus 36.2K additions in August.
The deterioration in the labor market was less severe than expected. Nevertheless, the weak numbers validate comments made by RBA's Governor Lowe earlier today that the benchmark interest rate could be cut down to 0.10% from the current record low of 0.25%.
As such, the AUD/USD pair continues to trade at session lows near 0.7137, representing a 0.37% decline on the day. The Aussie dollar ran into sellers earlier today as dovish comments by Lowe overshadowed an uptick in the Aussie Consumer Inflation Expectations.
With the bank preparing markets for a November rate cut, the AUD looks vulnerable to deeper sell-offs – more so, as the risk sentiment remains weak due to fading prospects for an immediate US fiscal stimulus.
Technical levels