Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of tepid Australian employment data and as sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable after the previous session's U.S. economic reports.
AUD/USD hit 0.8004 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7973.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7860, the low of April 30 and resistance at 0.8032, Wednesday's high.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier said that the number of employed people declined by 2,900 in April, compared to expectations for an increase of 5,000. The change in the number of employed people in March was revised to a 48,200 gain from a previously estimated 37,700 rise.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate rose to 6.2% last month from 6.1% in March, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after payroll processing firm ADP said on Wednesday that U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 169,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 200,000.
Investors were now looking ahead to Friday's employment report for further indications on the health of the U.S. job market.
Recent economic reports have indicated that the economy has slowed since the start of the year prompting many investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The Aussie was steady against the euro, with EUR/AUD at 1.4243.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims.