Australian dollar hits new low after stellar US jobs data

THE Australian dollar has fallen to a four-and-a-half-year low after the release of very strong US employment growth figures.

Aussie one dollar coins, on a twenty dollar note.

THE Australian dollar has fallen to a four-and-a-half-year low after the release of very strong US employment growth figures.

At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local dollar was trading at 82.96 US cents, down from 83.76 cents on Friday.

Early on Monday morning, it fell as low as 82.90 its weakest level since June 2010.

The US economy created 321,000 new jobs in November, the highest monthly growth rate in nearly three years, the US Labor Department said.

Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Raiko Shareef said data put the Australian dollar and other currencies under pressure at the end of last week.

“The US employment reports were the only data of note on Friday, and, boy, did they deliver,” he said.

“Unsurprisingly, the US dollar rallied albeit rather modestly. The biggest losers among the G10 were Japanese yen, the NZ dollar and the Australian dollar.” The Australian currency fell two per cent last week, its largest weekly fall in three months, after several economists changed their forecasts to include a Reserve Bank interest rate cut in early 2015 following disappointing growth figures.

Gross domestic product (GDP) data showed that the economy grew at less than half the pace the market was expecting in the September quarter.

Originally published as Australian dollar hits new low after stellar US jobs data