AUD/USD slips below 0.69 as Aussie jobless rate rises to 5.2%

AUD/USD hit a 4.5-month low following the Aussie jobs data release.
The Aussie unemployment rate ticked higher to 5.2%, while full-time jobs dropped in April.
The labor data released today may boost expectations of an RBA rate cut in June.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

The AUD/USD pair slipped to 0.6893 – the lowest level since Jan. 3 – on the back of a bigger-than-expected jump in Australia's unemployment rate.

The official data released soon before press time showed the jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2% in April, beating the expected print of 5.1%. The previous month's print was also revised higher to 5.1% from 5.0%. Further, the economy added 28.4K jobs in April, beating the estimate of 14.0K by a big margin.

The big beat on the headline figure isn't helping the AUD as the Full-Time Employment dipped by 6.3K, following a 48.3K rise in March.

With the full-time jobs and unemployment rate disappointing expectations, the probability that the RBA would cut rates by 25 basis points in June may rise above 50% from the current 37%. As a result, the AUD/USD could slip further during the day.

Supporting that bearish view is Australia's 10-year government bond yield, which is currently trading at a record low of 1.64%, down four basis points on the back of dismal labor market data.

As of writing, the currency pair is trading at 0.6907, representing a 0.25% drop in the day.

Pivot levels

1. R3 0.6982
2. R2 0.6966
3. R1 0.6947
PP 0.6931
1. S1 0.6912
2. S2 0.6896
3. S3 0.6877

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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