- Australia added 53,000 new jobs in March
- Australian dollar climbs 0.50%
- RBA Deputy Governor Bullock says rate pause not related to banking crisis
- There is resistance at 0.6897 and 0.6791
- AUD/USD tested support below 0.6700 earlier today. The next support level is 0.6608
Australia posted a blowout employment report today, giving the Australian dollar a strong boost. The economy created 53,000 new jobs in March, after a downwardly revised 63,600 a month earlier. This crushed the estimate of 20,000 and especially impressed as full-time employment increased by 72,000 (part-time decreased by 19,200). Unemployment was unchanged at 3.5%, below the forecast of 3.6%.
What can we expect from the RBA? The central bank paused in March for the first time in the current rate-tightening cycle and Governor Lowe made clear that another pause was data-dependent. The next meeting is on May 2nd and the odds of a pause have eased to 78%, compared to 94% before the employment release. Australia releases the March inflation report less than a week prior to the meeting, and if inflation is higher than expected, the RBA will have to consider a 25-basis point increase in order to cool down the job market and inflation.
The recent bank crisis, which roiled the global financial markets, appears to have eased. Still, the extent of the fallout of the collapse of four US banks and Credit Suisse is not yet clear, and central banks need to give consideration to the crisis in mind as they determine their rate path.
RBA Deputy Governor Bullock addressed this issue on Wednesday, saying the RBA had considered a pause well before the bank crisis, and the bank decided on the non-move in order to protect job gains and to take into account lags in rate policy. Bullock maintained that there were no signs that the bank crisis had caused a tightening in financial conditions in Australia.
