The Australian dollar little changed on the conflicting data from the labor market in Australia. As reported today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics the unemployment rate in August, seasonally adjusted, increased by 5.6%, below the growth in July and economists forecast of 5.7%. Also became known that the number of employees in August decreased by 3,900, while economists had expected growth to 15 000. The number of jobs to full-time employment increased in August by 11,500, while the number of jobs with part-time employment decreased by 15 400. The Bureau reported that that adjusted for seasonal variations in the percentage of the economically active population was 64.7% in August vs July .
The New Zealand dollar declined from the beginning of the session, after data on the GDP. New Zealand’s GDP in the second quarter grew by 0.9%, which coincided with an increase in the first quarter, but was lower than economists’ forecast of 1.1%. Compared with the same period of the previous year, GDP grew by 3.6%, after rising by 3.0%, which is well below the forecast of 3.7%. Exports increased 4.0%, the largest quarterly increase in nearly 20 years. This growth was driven by exports of dairy products, meat and fruit. Services sector continues to grow, with an increase of 0.7%.
Today, the focus is on the US economic statistics and Bank of England. Analysts predict that by the end of August, US retail sales decreased by 0.1%, while industrial production fell by 0.3%. As for inflation, it is expected that the CPI rose in August by 0.1% after flat in July. If these estimates are correct, this data is likely to increase the chances of a Fed hike in September.
EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair was trading in the $ 1.1240-50 range
GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair was trading in the $ 1.3240-75 range
USD / JPY: it fell to Y101.95
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