-RBA
It was surprisingly how just after a couple of promising reports the Reserve Bank of Australia switched to a neutral or even slightly hawkish bias. Such a shift in the sentiment provided a strong boost to the Aussie, pushing AUD/USD back into the "uncomfortably high" zone, with the pair hitting 0.9461 on April 10, the highest since November 2013.
The labour market was one of the biggest concerns for the central bank, however, the latest figures showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5.8% in March from a revised 6.1%. It was the biggest monthly drop since August and above markets' expectations. What is more important, the number of people employed soared by 18,100 over the period, climbing after a revised 48,200 a month earlier. Nevertheless, the economy is still far away from operating around its full capacity and there is no time for complacency.
That is why the nation's Treasurer Joe Hockey expressed his concerns about the RBA's inaction over the Aussie's rally, also saying the change of stance with regard to the monetary policy has angered him and other government colleagues. While Australian politicians appreciated RBA's concerns about constantly rising property prices, they consider the recent change to a neutral policy setting as the main reason for another jump of the local currency.
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