Australian May employment much better-than-expected

Australia employment change s.a. came in at 42 k in May vs +10k forecast and prior of 37.7k, with the unemployment rate s.a. at 5.5% vs forecasts of 5.7% and 5.7% last. Fulltime employment stood at 52.1k vs previous -11.6k, while part-time employment -10.1k from previous 49k. Participation rate was 64.9% vs expected 64.8% and prior of 64.8%.

KEY POINTS

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE) 

• Employment increased 25,200 to 12,122,100.
• Unemployment decreased 4,800 to 729,200.
• Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.7%.
• Participation rate remained steady at 64.8%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 2.9 million hours (0.18%) to 1,677.7 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE) 

• Employment increased 42,000 to 12,152,600. Full-time employment increased 52,100 to 8,287,400 and part-time employment decreased 10,100 to 3,865,200.
• Unemployment decreased 18,600 to 711,900. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 23,000 to 489,300 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work increased 4,400 to 222,700.
• Unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 pts to 5.5%.
• Participation rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 64.9%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 31.1 million hours (1.87%) to 1,695.3 million hours.

LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (QUARTERLY CHANGE) 

• Trend estimates: the labour force underemployment rate increased 0.1 pts to 8.8%. The underutilisation rate remained steady at 14.5%.
• Seasonally adjusted estimates: the labour force underemployment rate decreased 0.1 pts to 8.8%. The underutilisation rate decreased 0.4 pts to 14.4%.