Australia Employment Change preview: Consensus points to moderation after strong prior month
| Pair | Now | Since publish |
|---|---|---|
| AUDUSD | — | — |
The high impact Australia Employment Change report is scheduled for release on 2026-08-20 at 01:30 UTC. Market consensus anticipates a gain of 11.7K jobs. This forecast represents a significant moderation from the previous reading, which saw a robust increase of 76.3K. As a key indicator of labor market health, this data point is closely watched for its potential implications for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy outlook.
Historically, this release has generated notable market reactions across AUD pairs. AUDUSD has seen a median 1-hour move of 15 pips, with top-quarter releases moving 24+ pips. EURAUD typically experiences larger movements, with a median 1-hour move of 28 pips and top-quarter releases moving 53+ pips. Similarly, GBPAUD has shown median 1-hour moves of 30 pips, with top-quarter releases moving 55+ pips. These statistics are measured over approximately 118-120 releases since 2015. The direction reliability on AUDUSD after these releases has been observed at 61%.
Recent releases have shown varied outcomes. The most recent print in July 2026 recorded an actual increase of 76.3K against a forecast of 15.7K, leading to a +14 pips move in AUDUSD within one hour. In May 2026, the actual figure was -18.6K compared to a forecast of 17.4K, which was followed by a -42 pips move in AUDUSD.