Australia: Unemployment rate steady despite zero employment growth – ANZ
Catherine Birch, senior economist at ANZ, notes that the Australian employment increased by just 500 workers in June, as the 21.1k gain in full-time employment more than offset the 20.6k fall in part-time employment.
Key Quotes
“After spiking at 2.9% y/y on the back of the inflated May result (due to the election), growth fell back to 2.4% y/y.”
“The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.2% despite zero monthly employment growth and the participation rate fixing at the historic peak of 66.0%.”
“In a positive sign, the underemployment rate fell 0.4ppt back to 8.2%, on the back of the rebound in full-time employment, recovering most of the 0.5ppt rise over the past three months. This brought the total labour market underutilisation rate down to 13.4%. Still too high for the RBA’s comfort.”
“The ANZ Labour Market Indicator suggests that employment growth will slow further and that the unemployment rate will stick around the 5.2-5.3% mark for the remainder of 2019. Without signs of progress on unemployment, we expect to see further easing by the RBA before year-end.”
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.
