PERTH: The Australian dollar has sunk to its lowest level in six years following surprisingly strong US jobs figures.
At 0700 AEDT on Monday, the local currency was trading at 77.07 US cents, down from 78.01 cents on Friday.
The better-than-expected US non-farm payrolls data for February caused the Australian dollar to dive more than eight-tenths of a US cent within 15 minutes early on Saturday morning.
It hit 77.06 US cents several hours later, the lowest point since May 2009, and approached those levels again on Monday morning.
The US dollar strengthened after official American data showed 295,000 jobs were created in February, which was better than market expectations of 235,000 positions.
“At least Australians are not alone in the currency response. Really, it was a stronger US dollar across the board,” Bank of New Zealand strategist Kymberly Martin said.
The American unemployment rate also fell to 5.5 per cent, from 5.7 per cent, giving economists another pleasant surprise.
Stronger US data increases the chance of an American interest rate rise.
