Investing.com - The Australian dollar dropped to two-month lows against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of downbeat Australian employment data, while investors eyed an upcoming report on U.S. jobless claims.
AUD/USD hit 0.9263 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since June 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9267, declining 0.93%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9230, the low of June 3 and resistance at 0.9358, the session high.
Official data earlier showed that the number of employed people in Australia fell by 300 in July, confounding expectations for an increase of 12,000. June's figure was revised down to a 14,900 gain from a previously estimated 15,900 rise.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate rose to 6.4% last month, from 6.0% in June. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in July.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly to $41.54 billion in June. It was the smallest deficit in five months as exports inched up 0.1% and imports fell 1.2%.
The report came one day after data showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in July, while a separate showed that U.S. factory orders rose 1.1% in June, above economists' forecasts of a 0.5% gain.
The Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD gaining 0.91% to 1.4435.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims.