AUD halts its decline. Overview for 18.01.2024

The Australian dollar, paired with the US dollar, has temporarily ceased its descent. The current AUDUSD exchange rate stands at 0.6558.

Australia presented a wealth of statistics on Thursday morning.

The unemployment rate in December remained unchanged at 3.9%. However, the proportion of the economically active population has dropped significantly, from 67.3% to 66.8%. The number of full-time employees decreased by 106.6 thousand, following a rise of 57.0 thousand the previous month. The total number of jobs in the economy fell by 65.1 thousand, contrasting with the forecasted increase of 17.6 thousand.

Seasonal factors are unlikely to play a significant role here. It is summer in Australia when the service sector employs workers to the maximum.

Interestingly, the expected MI inflation currently stands at 4.5%, and the index remains unchanged. This raises the question of whether the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will maintain a high interest rate high for longer than anticipated.

AUD is currently finding support from the stabilisation of the US dollar.