The Australian dollar received a small boost during the Asian trading session from the release of employment data, and increased risk appetite helped propel the currency higher later on, taking AUD/USD above Wednesday’s highs toward 0.8250. Looking at the economic data on hand, the Australian net employment change fell by 1,700 during May, which was much less than the expected drop of 30,000. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate still increased to 5.7 percent from an upwardly revised 5.5 percent, indicating that the Australian labor markets are indeed deteriorating. Furthermore, a breakdown of the report shows that the overall reading was saved by a 24,500 person increase in part-time employment, as the number of full-time jobs fell by 26,200.