Australian March jobs report beats estimates

Ivan Delgado Independent Analyst

Australia employment change s.a. came in at +26.1K in March, above forecasts of +17k, with the unemployment rate s.a. at 5.7% vs forecasts of 5.9% and 5.8% last. Fulltime employment stood at -8.8k vs previous 15.9K, while part-time employment rose by 34.9k from previous -15.6k. Participation rate was 64.9% vs expected 65.0 and prior of 64.9%.

Key points

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

Employment increased 7,700 to 11,910,000.

Unemployment decreased 2,800 to 729,600.

Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8%.

Participation rate remained steady at 65.0%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 1.8 million hours to 1,643.7 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

Employment increased 26,100 to 11,909,600. Full-time employment decreased 8,800 to 8,180,400 and part-time employment increased 34,900 to 3,729,200.

Unemployment decreased 7,300 to 723,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 7,900 to 515,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 1,800 to 208,400.

Unemployment rate decreased 0.1 pts to 5.7%.

Participation rate remained steady at 64.9%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 17.5 million hours to 1,632.3 million hours.

Author

Ivan Delgado

Independent Analyst

Established in the Asian continent since 2009, Ivan studied a degree in Business at the University Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), while also earning a postgraduate degree in Business Administration.

AUD/USD hits nine-week lows below 0.7000 on RBA Bullock's remarks

AUD/USD reverses a brief uptick and turns lower to hit nine-week lows below 0.7000 in the European morning on Tuesday, as traders digest cautious remarks from Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock during the press conference. Earlier on, the RBA raised the cash rate to 4.60%, as widely expected, leaving the door open to further rate hikes if needed.

USD/JPY consolidates near 157.50 as a bullish USD counters intervention risks

USD/JPY struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from a one-week low, consolidating around 157.50 in the Asian session on Tuesday. Trump's concerns about the Japanese Yen's weakness fueled speculation about another US-Japan joint intervention. This, along with the hawkish BoJ, underpins the JPY and caps the currency pair. Meanwhile, rising Fed rate-hike bets and oil-driven inflation fears continue to push US bond yields to multi-year highs, keeping the US Dollar pinned near a two-month high and supporting the pair.

Gold trims gains; back toward $4,150

Gold now surrenders some of its initial advance and retests the $4,150 zone per troy ounce on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the move higher in the yellow metal comes despite the firmer US Dollar and rising US Treasury yields across the board, while escalating geopolitical tensions appear to limit the downside potential.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP correct upward amid declining ETF inflows

The cryptocurrency market upholds a neutral-to-bullish bias on Tuesday, with Bitcoin edging closer to a breakout above $84,000. Altcoins mirror BTC’s outlook, with Ethereum holding above $2,700 and Ripple pushing past the reclaimed $1.50 level.

RBA recap: Rate hikes are on the table as demand stays too strong

The Reserve Bank of Australia unanimously tightened monetary policy, warning that inflation remained too high and that several upside risks had begun to materialise. Governor Michele Bullock said the Board would raise rates again if necessary.

Silver is more volatile than Gold ahead of PCE and NFP. This chart shows the positioning gap

The market’s attention is focused on American data this week, but there’s something only those with a trained eye may be looking at: Gold and Silver positioning gap. Financial markets are moving on fears, mostly related to persistently high energy prices driven by the Middle East war. Sure, the US Dollar (USD) is strong, but at what cost?