Australian unemployment rates stabilized in January at 4.2%, according to figures issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at the beginning of the Asian session today, Thursday, despite the increase in the participation rate in the labor market to 66.2% from 66.1%.

The Australian economy added about 12.900 thousand jobs in January, bringing the number of employment to 13.255,000 million jobs, after adding about 65 thousand jobs in December, while expectations indicated an addition of about 20 thousand.

The Australian dollar reacted positively to this data and tested 0.7215 levels against the US dollar after it was announced, before returning and retreating now and trading at 0.7175 levels, affected by the US dollar’s current rises.