Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday release unemployment figures for January, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The jobless rate is expected to come in at 5.2 percent, up from 5.1 percent in December. The Australian economy is tipped to add 10,000 jobs following the addition of 28,900 in the previous month.

New Zealand will provide Q4 numbers for producer prices; in the previous three months, inputs were up 1.0 percent on quarter and outputs rose 0.9 percent on quarter.

Japan will see final January figures for machine tool orders; the previous reading suggested a decline of 35.6 percent on year.

Hong Kong will release consumer price data for January; in December, inflation was up 2.9 percent on year.

The central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.00 percent.