Economic calendar in Asia-Pacific trade: The spotlight turns to Australian jobs

You have to imagine the RBA saw this number before the decision

The calendar is looking a bit top-heavy for the Thursday session in Asia. While we have some Japanese flow data and a check-in on the UK housing market, the main event is inarguable -- the Australian labor market report.

We kick things off at 2145 GMT with New Zealand Manufacturing Sales for Q3. The prior read was a soft -2.9% and there is no consensus but I would expect a bounce.

Then, attention turns to Tokyo at 23:50. We'll get the Business Survey Index (BSI) Large Manufacturing for Q4. Again, there is no consensus but the prior was +3.8%.

The Main Event is Australian Employment Data

At 00:30, the trading will pick up significantly as the Australian Bureau of Statistics drops the November employment numbers. Last month we saw a solid print, but the expectations are for a bit of a cooldown this time around to a still-robust +20.0K. I strongly suspect the RBA saw these numbers before yesterday's hawkish hold.

Here is what economist are looking for:

Employment Change: Expected to add 20.0k jobs (down from the hefty 42.2k prior).
Unemployment Rate: Expected to tick up slightly to 4.4% (from 4.3%).
Participation Rate: Expected to hold steady at 67.0%.

The "full time" employment component (Prior 55.3k) is always be key. If we see headline weakness but full-time jobs remain robust, the AUD should stay firm but watch Feb hike pricing data, which is currently a shade below 25%. If the unemployment rate ticks up beyond 4.4% forget about the Feb hike and AUD will slip.

Also of note at 00:01 GMT is the UK RICS Housing Survey. It's expected to slide further to -21 from -19, signaling continued pressure in the British property market.