Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday release jobless data for February, setting the pace for a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 6.4 percent, while the Australian economy is expected to have added 15,000 jobs after losing 12,200 in January. The participation rate is also called steady at 64.8 percent.

Australia also will see January data for credit card purchases, plus the March inflation forecast. Card balances were at A$51.0 billion in December, while the inflation forecast came in at 4.0 percent in February.

Japan will provide February numbers for Tokyo office vacancies and consumer confidence, as well as January results for the tertiary industry index and Q4 data for all industry activity.

The consumer confidence index is expected to show a score of 39.5, up from 39.1 in January. The tertiary industry index is tipped to add 0.5 percent on month after easing 0.3 percent in December. The industry index is expected to post a score of 6, up from 5 in the third quarter.

New Zealand will release February figures for food prices; in January, prices were up 1.3 percent on month and 1.2 percent on year.

The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold at 2.00 percent.

Malaysia will see January numbers for manufacturing and industrial production. Industrial output is expected to add 0.8 percent on month and 7.5 percent on year after gaining 2.0 percent on month and 7.4 percent on year. Manufacturing output gained 3.6 percent on month and 7.8 percent on year in the previous month.