Investing.com - The Australian dollar dropped against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of downbeat Australian employment data, while investors were awaiting a highly anticipated a U.S. retail sales report later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.8928 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since February 10; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8951, retreating 0.85%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8874, the low of February 5 and resistance at 0.9068, Wednesday's high.
Official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia declined by 3,700 in January, compared to expectations for a 15,000 increase. December's figure was revised down to a 23,000 drop from a previously estimated 22,600 decline.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment report ticked up to 6.0% last month, from 5.8% in December. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in January.
Separately, the Melbourne Institute said inflation expectations remained unchanged at 2.3% in January.
Meanwhile, investors were awaiting data on U.S. retail sales, due out later in the day, amid concerns that sales slumped in January after a 0.2% rise in December. Recent weak jobs reports have raised concerns over whether the U.S. recovery has lost momentum form the end of last year.
The Aussie was sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD rallying 1.13% to 1.5227.