$A hits 11-month low against strong $US The Australian dollar has fallen to a fresh 11-month low amid continuing optimism about the US economy and negativity about the Australian economy, before rebounding slightly. The Australian currency dropped to 97.97 US cents in the early hours of Friday morning, a level not seen since June 2012. At 0700 AEST on Friday, the local unit was trading at 98.09 US cents, down from 98.37 cents on Thursday. US economic figures released early on Friday morning, Australian time, showed a sharp jump in weekly jobless claims while the number of housing construction starts fell 16.5 per cent in April. US stocks fell after these figures were released. However, LTG Goldrock director Andrew Barnett said the Australian dollar's fall was not due to the economic data but because of a wider continuing trend. "At the moment, the Aussie dollar is out of favour with the market," he said. It's been a double whammy. Mr Barnett said the Australian dollar had been hit because the local economy over the next two years won't perform at its previous stellar levels and the market also was starting to believe the US economy was experiencing a genuine recovery. "You put those two things together, it doesn't surprise me the Australian dollar is at 98.00 US cents and it won't surprise me if it is at 93 cents between now and the end of July," he said. Mr Barnett added that the Australian dollar could briefly move to parity with its US counterpart in the short term, but long term it would push lower.