South African Rand Hits 5-day High Against Greenback After Unemployment Rate

After trading sideways in early morning deals, the South African rand edged up against its US counterpart in New York mid-day trading on Tuesday. The rand, which closed yesterday's New York session at 7.7456 against the greenback, soared to a 5-day high of 7.6150 by about 12:35 pm ET. The rand is presently trading at 7.7100 versus the US unit. The next upside target level for the South African currency is seen at 7.547.

South Africa's unemployment rate stood at 24.3% in the December quarter, down from 24.5% in the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa reported on Tuesday. The number of unemployed persons in the country totaled 4.17 million, slightly lower than 4.19 million recorded three months ago.

At the same time, the number of employed persons increased slightly to 12.97 million from 12.89 million. The number of people registered in the labor force stood at 17.14 million, up from 17.08 million a quarter ago.

Statistics South Africa also said that the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 54.8%.