Australia’s Unemployment Rate decreased to 4.1% in December from 4.3% in November, beating the predicted 4.4%. Employment Change was 65.2K, improving from -28.7K in November, surpassing the forecast of 30K.<\/p>\n
The participation rate rose slightly to 66.7% from November’s 66.6%. Full-Time Employment increased by 54.8K after a previous decline of 65.3K, while Part-Time Employment added 10.4K in December, down from the prior month’s 36.6K rise.<\/p>\n
Growth in 15-24 year-olds’ employment contributed to these changes. Male employment increased by 49,000, outpacing the 17,000 rise in female employment. Total hours worked rose by 0.4%, mirroring the employment gain.<\/p>\n
Following the employment data, the Australian Dollar saw a rise, with the AUD\/USD up 0.40% at 0.6788. The AUD showed the strongest rise against the Japanese Yen.<\/p>\n
The Reserve Bank of Australia will meet on February 3 to make its first monetary policy decision of the year. Although the broader employment figures were mixed, they suggest potential relief for the RBA, with annual inflation still a concern.<\/p>\n
Australian employment figures are watched closely due to their influence on currency valuation. Employment data impacts economic growth indicators, often affecting decisions made by central banks.<\/p>\n
The December 2025 employment data that we received today has completely changed the landscape. The unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.1% and job creation was more than double what was expected, which challenges the previous view that the labour market was cooling. This surprise strength suggests the Australian economy has more momentum than we thought heading into 2026.<\/p>\n
This report puts significant pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia ahead of its February 3rd meeting. With inflation last reported at 3.4% in November 2025, this strong employment figure makes it much harder for the RBA to consider cutting rates. In fact, overnight index swaps now imply a 45% probability of a rate hike at the February meeting, a huge jump from just 15% before this data was released.<\/p>\n
For traders, this signals a need to position for a stronger Australian Dollar in the coming weeks. We should consider buying AUD\/USD call options with strike prices above the current resistance of 0.6830, targeting a move toward the 0.6870 level. This strategy offers a defined risk while capturing potential upside ahead of the RBA decision.<\/p>\n
The case for a stronger Aussie dollar is supported by external factors as well. Iron ore prices, a key Australian export, have risen over 5% in the last month to trade above $140 per tonne, a trend that historically supports the AUD. This has been helped by recent data showing China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly expanded in early January.<\/p>\n
The final piece of the puzzle will be the Q4 2025 inflation report, which is due on January 28. If that data also comes in hot, it will almost certainly force the RBA’s hand, solidifying the case for a hawkish stance. We will be watching that release very closely as the key confirmation for our current bullish view on the Aussie dollar.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australia\u2019s jobless rate fell to 4.1% in December as employment surged, boosting the Australian Dollar\u2019s value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":16959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}