On Monday the Australian dollar has climbed to its highest level in nearly a month, while the local share market began the week with a solid fall.
Late last week the local currency began its rise against the dollar and on Monday rose further to reach about 82.5 US cents.
The Australian share market's fall was little surprise after losses on Wall Street and in Europe late last week.
The All Ordinaries index closed down 41 points or 0.75 per cent at 5,400, while the ASX 200 dropped 43 points to finish at 5,423.
While mining and energy stocks led the losses, all sectors declined.
BHP Billiton dropped 2.2 per cent, Rio Tinto lost 1.5 per cent, Woodside slipped 1.9 per cent.
Santos fell 5.2 per cent, while gold miner Newcrest was the notable exception, rising 2.5 per cent.
Among the major banks, National Australia Bank lost 0.9 per cent while ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank each fell 0.5 per cent.
Telstra closed 0.5 per cent lower.
It was the seventh consecutive month of improvement, though the rise is not expected to point to a lower unemployment rate.
Other data released by the Bureau of Statistics suggested the heat may be going out of the property market.
West Texas crude oil dipped over the weekend to $US48.30 per barrel, while Tapis crude oil in Singapore was selling for $US50.80 a barrel just after 5:00pm (AEDT).
Spot gold closed higher at $US1,227 an ounce.
Just before 5:00pm (AEDT), the Australian dollar was up against most other currencies, buying around 69.5 euro cents, 54.4 British pence, 97.4 Japanese yen and 105.1 New Zealand cents.
