Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

RTTNews | 37 days ago
Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday release February figures for unemployment, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The jobless rate is expected to hold steady, with the addition of 31,400 jobs following the increase of 44,000 jobs in January.

New Zealand will provide Q4 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.4 percent on quarter and a decline of 1.4 percent on year. That follows the 1.0 percent quarterly decline and the 1.5 percent yearly drop in the three months prior.

Malaysia will see February data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 8.0 percent on year, up from 6.2 percent in January. Exports are called higher by an annual 5.6 percent, up from 0.3 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at MYR11.20 billion, up from MYR3.60 billion a month earlier.

The de facto central bank in Taiwan will announce its decision on interest rates; currently, the benchmark sits at 2.00 percent. Also, Taiwan will see February figures for export orders; in January, orders were down 3.0 percent on year.

Hong Kong will provide February numbers for consumer prices; in January, overall inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 2.0 percent on year.

Finally, the markets in Japan are closed on Thursday for the Vernal Equinox and will re-open on Friday.

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