To the surprise of the market, Australian employment increased 52k last month which was the strongest pace of job growth in six months. The unemployment rate increased from 4.4 to 4.5 percent but the labor market remains very tight as the rise simply reflects more people joining the workforce. Overall the Australian economy is strong which is why the central bank raised interest rates to an 11 year high last month. USD/CAD on the other hand hit a 3 month high following mixed Canadian data; new house prices fell short of expectations but manufacturing shipments and labor productivity improved. Despite the economic reports, broad dollar strength has weighed on all of the commodity currencies along with softer gold and oil prices.