Investing.com - The Australian dollar slipped to fresh four-year lows against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, after Australia's government forecast a wider budget gap and that the unemployment rate would increase in 2015.
AUD/USD hit 0.8205 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since June 2010; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8234, slipping 0.15%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8086 and resistance at 0.8303, Friday's high.
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey earlier said that the underlying cash deficit will deteriorate to A$40.4 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, compared to May's estimate of A$29.8 billion.
Mr. Hockey's comments were made in the Treasury's mid-year economic and fiscal outlook.
The government also forecast an unemployment rate of 6.5% by mid 2015, up from the May projection of 6.25%.
Separately, data showed that Australia's new motor vehicle sales fell 0.6% last month, after a 1.6% decline in October.
Meanwhile, risk sentiment weakened amid concerns over the economic impact of the continuing rout in oil prices and its effect on energy companies.
Markets were also jittery ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting, as ongoing speculation over the prospects for a U.S. rate hike next year fuelled expectations that the U.S. central bank could adjust its forward guidance.
The Aussie was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD easing up 0.08% to 1.5123.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release reports on manufacturing activity in the New York region and industrial production.