Australia: Total payroll jobs fell by 7.3% from Mid-March to early May (seven weeks) – ABS

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is out with its latest data on the labor market, reflecting the impact on the country’s employment during the coronavirus lockdown period.

Key highlights

"Over the seven weeks from mid-March to early May, total payroll jobs fell by 7.3%.”

 "The latest data shows a further slowing in the fall in COVID-19 job losses between mid-April and early May."

"The week-to-week changes are much smaller than they were early in the COVID-19 period. The decrease in the number of jobs in the week ending 2 May was 1.1%, which was only slightly larger than the 0.9% increase in the week ending 25 April."

“Total job losses as of the week ending 18 April have been revised down from 7.5% to 7.1%.”

“Some industries were now showing a reduced impact in the most recent weeks.”

Market reaction

Following the RBA minutes release and weak Australian jobs data, the Australian dollar came under fresh selling pressure. AUD/USD retreated further from the six-day highs of 0.6550 to now trade flat around 0.6525 region.