Australia jobless rate ticked higher in February, full time jobs surged

Australia unemployment rate ticked higher to 5.6 percent in February even as the economy added 17.500 jobs, according to Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The markets were expecting job addition of 20,000.  Employment for the previous month was revised to +12,500, from +16,000. Meanwhile, full-time jobs came in at 64,900, compared to a downwardly revised -53,200 seen in January. Meanwhile, part-time employment fell 47,400.

February Key Points (Source: ABS)

Trend Estimates (Monthly Change)

• Employment increased 19,300 to 12,480,500.
• Unemployment increased 4,300 to 729,500.
• Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5%.
• Participation rate increased by 0.1 pts to 65.7%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 1.4 million hours (0.1%) to 1,730.3 million hours.

Seasonally adjusted estimates (Monthly change)

• Employment increased 17,500 to 12,480,500. Full-time employment increased 64,900 to 8,533,600 and part-time employment decreased 47,400 to 3,946,900.
• Unemployment increased 8,900 to 734,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 13,600 to 512,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 4,700 to 221,200.
• Unemployment rate increased by 0.1 pts to 5.6%
• Participation rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 65.7%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 21.2 million hours (1.2%) to 1,734.1 million hours.

Labour Underutilization (Quarterly Change)

• Trend estimates: the labour force underemployment rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 8.3%. The underutilisation rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 13.8%.
• Seasonally adjusted estimates: the labour force underemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 8.4%. The underutilisation rate increased by 0.1 pts to 13.9%.