Australian jobs market data for April was released during the Asian trading session today and turned out to be a big disappointment. Employment declined by 4.3k in the previous month while the median estimate among economists was for a 24.5k jobs gain. This has led to a jump in unemployment rate from 3.5 to 3.7% (exp. 3.5%). Moreover, the composition of the employment drop is worrying as it was driven by full-time jobs, which fell 27.1k, while part-time jobs increased by 22.8k.
Report was clearly AUD-negative as it showed weakening of the labor market and could be an important factor for the Reserve Bank of Australia when deciding on rates. Major financial institutions are split in their expectations - some, like for example Goldman Sachs, expect one more 25 bp rate hike from RBA in this cycle while others, like for example Commonwealth Bank of Australia, say that RBA is done with hiking already. Money markets are currently pricing in RBA staying on hold at its next meeting on June 6, 2023.
Australian jobs data released trigger a pullback on AUD market. Taking a look at AUDJPY chart at D1 interval, we can see that the pair managed to climb above 200-session moving average (purple line) and attempted to move above the resistance zone ranging below 91.50 mark. However, today's pullback puts this breakout under question. If we see a daily close below the 200-session moving average, the pair may be set for a correction. However, one should remember that the overall trend is upward with the pair trading in a bullish price channel.
Source: xStation5
