The Australian dollar is markedly weaker against the US dollar in the wake of disappointing local employment numbers and as its US counterpart climbs on upbeat north American data.

At 0700 AEDT on Friday, the local unit was trading at 76.28 US cents, down from 76.68 cents on Thursday.

The Aussie was the worst performing currency during overnight trade due to the weak Australian jobs data released on Thursday, BK Asset Management FX strategy manaing director Kathy Lien said.

“Full-time employment dropped by 53,000, which was the largest one-month decline since February 2009,” Lien said.

“The increase in part-time work kept the decline small but there’s nothing hiding the problems in this month’s report.”

The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 per cent from 5.7 per cent, the lowest level in three years but that was due to a decline in the participation rate.

Lien said the US dollar had rallied following data showed a 3.2 per cent rise in existing home sales surpassing market expectations of a 0.4 per cent lift.

AAP

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