Aust bond futures strong on weak jobs data January 17, 2014 - 9:29AM Australian bond futures prices have been given a boost by weaker-than-expected employment data. Australia's unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8 per cent in December but only because the participation rate - the proportion of the population with a job, looking for one or who are ready to start work - fell to 64.6 per cent. The total number of people with jobs fell 22,600, disappointing economists' expectations of an employment rise by 5,000 in December. "Australian bond futures edged modestly higher overnight, after rallying by around 10 basis points in yesterday's session following the weaker-than-expected Australian labour force report," ANZ economists said. Australian labour market data published yesterday showed that underlying conditions in the labour market remained soft at the end of 2013. Yesterday's data, while softer than expected, were broadly consistent with our view that the unemployment rate would be in the five to six per cent range for several months. For monetary policy, we remain comfortable with our view that the Reserve Bank of Australia will remain on hold through 2014, despite some tentative evidence of a pick-up in retail sales growth and ongoing strength in housing market activity. At 0830 AEDT on Friday, the March 2014 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 95.895 (implying a yield of 4.105 per cent), up from 95.875 (4.125 per cent) on Thursday. The March 2014 three-year bond futures contract was at 97.090 (2.910 per cent), up from 97.060 (2.940 per cent).