Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

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

The jobless rate is expected to tick up to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent in November, with the addition of 28,300 jobs following the loss of 21,300 in the previous month. The participation rate is tipped to rise from 66.7 percent to 66.8 percent.

South Korea will provide preliminary Q4 figures for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.1 percent on quarter and 1.9 percent on year. That follows the 1.3 percent quarterly increase and the 1.8 percent annual gain in the three months prior.

Japan will see December data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 3.6 percent on year, up from 1.3 percent in November. Exports are called higher by an annual 6.1 percent, steady from the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 357.0 billion yen, up from 3167 billion yen a month earlier.

The central bank in Malaysia 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 2.75 percent.

Hong Kong will release December data for consumer prices; in November, overall inflation was flat on month and up 1.2 percent on year.