By Myra P. Saefong
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The Australian dollar climbed 1.2% against the U.S. dollar Thursday afternoon in Asia after Australia's government reported that the nation's jobless rate fell to 5.2% in May, down from 5.4% in April. The Australian dollar last bought 83.81 U.S. cents. The dollar index (DXY 87.59, -0.31, -0.35%) , which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, fell to 87.537 from 87.911 in late North American trading on Wednesday.
