Weak jobs data knock Australian dollar The Australian dollar fell against its major rivals on fears over the health of the Australian economy as figures showed a surprise dip in employment levels. The Aussie lost more than 0.5 per cent against the US dollar to touch a session low of $1.0494 after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the country lost 5,500 jobs in December, missing expectations of a 5,000 rise. The unemployment rate rose to 5.4 per cent in line with expectations. "The labour market report suggests that the performance of the Australian dollar is becoming even more dependent on the evolution of commodity prices and the willingness of foreign investors to add Aussie-denominated sovereign bonds to its portfolio of triple A sovereign holdings," said analysts at Morgan Stanley. The yen resumed its weakening trend after Japan's economy minister clarified comments made earlier in the week over the damage a weak yen could do to the country's importers. Akira Amari's original comments sparked a rise in the currency. Mr Amari said his comments had been misinterpreted, and that he believed the yen was still in the process of correcting from its longer-term strength. The dollar rose 0.5 per cent to Y88.91 as investors began to focus on a meeting by the Bank of Japan on Monday, with expectations remaining high that the central bank would take firm action to weaken the yen. The Swiss franc also weakened after making gains in the previous two sessions. The euro gained 0.7 per cent to reach SFr1.2456, its strongest level against the haven currency in 14 months, as a more positive outlook on the eurozone at the start of the year helped ease pressure on the franc. The euro moved higher against the dollar after losing ground the previous day on warnings from eurozone officials that the currency was "dangerously high." The single currency rose 0.4 per cent to $1.3349. The pound fell against the euro, which gained 0.4 per cent to £0.8335. But sterling was higher against the dollar, rising 0.1 per cent to $1.6017.