Strong Australian Jobs Data Spurs Paring of Rate-Cut Bets
- Australian dollar, government bond yields rise after jobs data
- Traders now see 50-50 chance of RBA cutting rates in February
This article is for subscribers only.
Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in November as the nation’s golden streak of hiring gains extended, underscoring the resilience of the labor market to elevated interest rates and prompting traders to pare back bets of a February cut.
The Australian dollar rose while the yield on policy-sensitive three-year notes jumped after official data Thursday showed the jobless rate slipped to 3.9%, down from 4.1% the prior month and below economists’ expectations. Employment beat forecast by rising 35,600 and was driven entirely by full-time jobs, the data showed.