Forex - AUD/USD hits 8-day high after upbeat Australian jobs data

Forex Pros – The Australian dollar soared to an 8-day high against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after official data showed that the number of people employed in Australia rose in June.

AUD/USD hit 0.876 during European morning trade, the pair's highest since June 28; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.873, gaining 1.01%.

The pair was likely to find support at 86.62, Wednesday's high, and resistance at 88.58, the high of June 21.

Late Wednesday, Australian official data showed that the number of people employed rose by a seasonally adjusted 45,900 in June, following an advance of 22,800 in May, whose figure was revised down from 26,900.

Analysts had expected an increase of 15,300 in June.

The report also said the rate of unemployment was a seasonally adjusted 5.1% in June, unchanged from May, whose figure had been revised down from 5.2%.

Analysts had expected the rate to rise to 5.2% in June.

Employment surged the most in Western Australia, where companies are expanding energy projects to meet Asian demand. The state saw employers boost payrolls by 1.8%, more than four times the national gain of 0.4%, driving the region’s jobless rate to 4%.

The Aussie was also up against the euro, with EUR/AUD shedding 0.79% to hit 1.4503.

Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish key data on initial jobless claims.