The Australian dollar gained on Thursday as official data signaled a fall in unemployment, though jobs data was weaker than expected.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7341, up 0.56%, while USD/JPY was last at 118.73, down 0.09%.
The New Zealand dollar jumped against its U.S. counterpart with NZD/USD last seen at 0.6850, up 0.88%.
In Australia, job slots fell by 5,100 in September, compared to expectations for a gain of 5,000. But the overall unemployment rate dropped to 6.2%, compared to an expected 6.3%, as the participation rate slid to 64.9% from 65%.
Earlier, the latest MI inflation expectations climbed to 3.5% from 3.2%.
Overnight, the dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of disappointing U.S. retail sales and producer price inflation data dampened optimism over the strength of the economy.
On Wednesday the U.S. Commerce Department said in a report that retail sales climbed by just 0.1% last month, below estimates of a gain of 0.2%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, dipped by 0.3% in September, worse than forecasts for a fall of 0.1%.
Data also showed that producer price inflation in the U.S. fell for the first time in five months in September.
Producer prices declined by 0.5% last month, worse than forecasts for a drop of 0.2%, while core PPI dipped by 0.3%, disappointing forecasts for a gain of 0.1%
In the euro area, data on Thursday showed that industrial production fell 0.5% in August after an upwardly revised 0.8% increase in July.
