CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Australia will on Thursday release December unemployment figures, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
The jobless rate is expected to rise to 5.9 percent from 5.8 percent in November, while the Australian economy is tipped to lose 10,000 jobs after adding 71,400 in the previous month. The participation rate is expected to dip to 65.2 percent from 65.3 percent.
Japan will provide November numbers for core machine orders and December data for producer prices.
Machine orders are expected to fall 7.3 percent on month and rise 6.3 percent on year after climbing 10.7 percent on month and 10.3 percent on year in October. Producer prices are called lower by 0.4 percent on month and 3.5 percent on year following the 0.1 percent monthly contraction and the 3.6 percent annual decline in November.
Japan also will release preliminary December figures for machine tool orders; in November, orders tumbled 17.7 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 its benchmark lending rate on hold at 1.50 percent.
The central bank in Indonesia also will conclude its monetary policy meeting and announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is tipped to keep its benchmark steady at 7.50 percent.
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