Aussie Drops from Parity vs. Greenback on Unemployment Rate

The Australian dollar fell from parity with its US counterpart today as the unemployment rate increased, even though it was supposed to fall. The Aussie extended its gains against the euro.

The Australian employers added 29,700 jobs in October, following the 49,600 increase in September. That was better than the expected 20,200 employment change. The better-than-expected employment change hasn’t helped to decrease the added 29,700 jobs in October, though, which was at 5.4 percent last month. The Australian unemployment rate was at 5.1 percent in September and was expected to go down to 5.0 percent in October.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped as much as 0.8 percent, decreasing demand for the riskier assets. The futures for crude oil reached the highest level in two year of $88.63 per barrel, supporting the Aussie somewhat.

AUD/USD dropped from 1.0052 to 0.9976 today as of 20:36 GMT. EUR/AUD went down from 1.3709 to 1.3688 after it rose to the intraday high of 1.3776.

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