Australian dollar falls after jobs figures

The Aussie dollar is markedly weaker in the wake of disappointing jobs numbers, and as the greenback climbed.

The Australian dollar is markedly weaker against the US dollar in the wake of disappointing local employment numbers and as its US counterpart climbs on upbeat North American data.

At 7am (AEDT) today, the local unit was trading at US76.28 cents, down from US76.68 cents yesterday.

The Aussie was the worst performing currency during overnight trade due to the weak Australian jobs data released yesterday, BK Asset Management FX strategy managing director Kathy Lien said.

“Fulltime employment dropped by 53,000, which was the largest one-month decline since February 2009,” Ms Lien said.

“The increase in part-time work kept the decline small but there’s nothing hiding the problems in this month’s report.”

The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 per cent from 5.7 per cent, the lowest level in three years but that was due to a decline in the participation rate.

Ms Lien said the US dollar had rallied following data showed a 3.2 per cent rise in existing home sales surpassing market expectations of a 0.4 per cent lift.

AAP