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The New Zealand dollar has soared today. In the European session, NZD/USD is trading at 0.6018, up an impressive 1.1% at the time of writing.
New Zealand’s labor market has been cooling off due to elevated interest rates and the markets were braced for a soft jobs report for the second quarter. Instead, job growth rebounded and unemployment was lower than expected, sending the New Zealand dollar sharply higher.
Job growth expanded by 0.4% in the second quarter, up from -0.2% in Q1 and above the market estimate of -0.2%. The unemployment rate rose from 4.4% to 4.6%, a notch under the market estimate of 4.7%. This is the highest level since Q1 of 2021 but investors were pleased that it was lower than expected.
The positive employment report has reduced market expectations of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which has driven the New Zealand dollar sharply higher today. Inflation has fallen to 3.3%, its lowest level in three years and close to the upper level of the central bank’s target range between 1% and 3%. A weak employment report could have cemented a rate cut at next week’s meeting but the job data was better than expected, which will complicate the rate decision.
The final tier-1 release before the August 14 meeting is Inflation Expectations on Thursday. This indicator is closely followed by the central bank and will be a factor in the rate decision. Inflation Expectations has been on a steady downtrend and is expected to ease to 2.33% in the second quarter, compared to 2.5% in the first quarter.
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