AUD/JPY drops to near 103.00 after the mixed Aussie employment data

AUD/JPY snaps its three-day winning streak, trading around 103.00 during the Asian hours on Thursday. The AUD/JPY cross decline is attributed to the mixed employment data from Australia released on Thursday.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the seasonally adjusted Employment Change for April, showing an increase of 38.5K to 14.3 million employed people in Australia. This has surpassed the market expectations of a 23.7K reading, reversing from a small drop in March. While the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.1% from the previous reading of 3.9%. This has marked the highest jobless rate since January with the number of unemployed individuals rising by 30.3K to 604.2K.

Additionally, Australia’s 10-year government bond yield traded lower around 4.2%, after Australia’s Wage Price Index (QoQ) showed a 0.8% increase in the first quarter, although, falling slightly below the expected rise of 0.9%. These figures have supported a dovish sentiment surrounding the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) regarding monetary policy.

On the Japanese front, the lower-than-expected Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter has weakened the advance of the Japanese Yen (JPY) and limited the decline of the AUD/JPY cross.

The preliminary Japanese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 0.5% QoQ in the first quarter, compared to the previous downwardly revised stagnation. The market expectation was a 0.4% contraction. The Annualized GDP fell by 2.0%, surpassing the forecasted decline of 1.5%. The previous reading was downwardly revised to no growth at 0%.

Japan's Economy Minister, Minister Shindo, has indicated that the economy is anticipated to sustain a moderate recovery. However, Shindo emphasized the necessity to closely monitor risks associated with foreign exchange fluctuations, which could potentially drive up domestic prices.