Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, supported by upbeat Australian economic reports, although disappointing data out of China limited gains.
AUD/USD hit 0.9081 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since March 7; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9071, gaining 0.93%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8924, Wednesday's low and resistance at 0.9133, the high of March 7 and a three-month high.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of employed people rose by 47,300 in February, exceeding expectations for an increase of 18,000. The number of employed people in January was revised to a 18,000 rise from a previously estimated 3,700 decline.
Australia's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.0% last month, in line with expectations.
Data also showed that the Melbourne Institute's inflation expectations for the next 12 months ticked down to 2.1% in February, from 2.3% the previous month.
But investors remained cautious after data showed that Chinese industrial production rose 8.6% in the first two months of 2014, missing market expectations for an increase of 9.5%, while Chinese retail sales rose by a smaller-than-forecast 11.8% in the same period.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD rising 0.31% to 1.0574.
Also Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its benchmark interest rate to 2.75% from a record low 2.5%, becoming the first developed nation to exit record-low borrowing costs.
Commenting on the decision, RBNZ Chairman Graham Wheeler said the bank expects to raise the key rate by about 2 percentage points over two years, with the pace depending on economic data.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on retail sales and import prices, in addition to the weekly government report on initial jobless claims.