Australia: Employment falls for the first time in more than three years – ANZ
Felicity Emmett, senior economist at ANZ, suggests that Australia’s 19k drop in employment in October was the first drop since September 2016 and even with a 0.1ppt drop in the participation rate to 66.0%, this saw the unemployment rate edge back up to 5.3%.
Key Quotes
“The weakness was broadly based, with full-time employment dropping 10.3k, while part-time employment fell 8.7k.”
“Once again, the fall in the participation rate was entirely due to males, with the female participation rate holding steady at a record high of 61.2%. Despite this, male unemployment edged higher again to 5.5%, alongside a 18k drop in employment. The female unemployment rate also rose, up to 5.2%, with employment down a modest 1.4k.”
“Along with the rise in unemployment, the underemployment rate reversed last month’s fall and rose 0.2ppt back to 8.5%. Total underutilisation is now back at the recent high of 13.8%. The persistent slack in the labour market was reflected in the Q3 Wage Price Index this week, which showed a wage growth slowdown.”
Author
Sandeep Kanihama
FXStreet Contributor
Sandeep Kanihama is an FX Editor and Analyst with FXstreet having principally focus area on Asia and European markets with commodity, currency and equities coverage. He is stationed in the Indian capital city of Delhi.
