Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday release unemployment figures for May, headlining a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 3.7 percent, with the addition of 15,000 jobs following the loss of 4,300 jobs in April. The participation rate also is seen unchanged at 66.7 percent.

New Zealand will provide Q1 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.1 percent on quarter and a gain of 2.6 percent on year. That follows the 0.6 percent quarterly decline and the 2.2 percent annual increase in the three months prior.

Japan will see April data for core machine orders and May figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Core machine orders are expected to rise 3.0 percent on month and fall 8.0 percent on year after sinking 3.9 percent on month and 3.5 percent on year in March.

Imports are expected to drop 10.3 percent on year after slipping 2.3 percent in April. Exports are called lower by an annual 0.8 percent after rising 2.6 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 1,331.9 billion yen following the 432.3 billion yen shortfall a month earlier.

South Korea will release May numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to tumbled 14.0 percent on year after sinking 13.3 percent in April. Exports are seen lower by an annual 15.2 percent after dropping 14.3 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at $2.10 billion following the $2.70 billion deficit a month earlier.

China will provide May data for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment. Industrial output is tipped to add 3.8 percent on year, slowing from 5.6 percent in April. Retail sales are seen higher by an annual 13.7 percent, slowing from 18.4 percent a month earlier. FAI is predicted to rise 4.4 percent on year, down from 4.7 percent in the previous month. The jobless rate is called steady at 5.2 percent.

Singapore will see jobless data for the first quarter of 2023, with forecasts suggesting an unemployment rate of 1.8 percent - down from 2.0 percent in the three months prior.

The central bank in Taiwan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.875 percent.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will conclude its monetary policy meeting and announce its decision on interest rates; it's expected to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.50 percent. Hong Kong also will see Q1 data for industrial production and producer prices; in the previous three months, they were down 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Indonesia will release May numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to sink 12.85 percent on year after tumbling 22.32 percent in April. Exports are called lower by an annual 12.0 percent after plummeting 29.4 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $3.00 billion, down from $3.94 billion a month earlier.