Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday release January numbers for unemployment, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 5.0 percent, with the addition of 15,000 jobs following the jump of 21,600 jobs in December. The participation rate is expected to be unchanged at 65.6 percent.

Japan will see preliminary February data for the manufacturing PMI from Nikkei; in January, it had a score of 50.3.

Japan also will see December results for its all industry activity index, with forecasts suggesting a drop of 0.2 percent following the 0.3 percent fall in November.

Hong Kong will release unemployment numbers for January, with the jobless rate expected to rise to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent in December.

The central bank in Indonesia 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 unchanged at 6.0 percent.

Thailand will provide January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In December, imports were worth $17.05 billion and exports were at $19.54 billion for a trade surplus of $2.48 billion.