Some notes and observations on the employment report out earlier in Australia.

Graphs & quoted remarks from the ABS:

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • Employment decreased 5,500 (0.0%) to 11,538,900. Full-time employment decreased 13,800 to 8,112,500 and part-time employment increased 8,300 to 3,426,400.
  • Unemployment increased 16,600 (2.6%) to 656,400. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased 12,600 to 476,500 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased 4,000 to 179,900.
  • The unemployment rate increased 0.1 pts to 5.4%.
  • The participation rate remained steady at 65.1%.
  • Aggregate monthly hours worked decreased 1.1 million hours to 1,623.5 million hours
  • We get CPI data next week; watch this for a clue on whether an RBA rate cut is a possibility
  • November’s employment was revised higher, from 13,900 to 17,100
  • November’s Unemployment rate was revised from 5.2% to 5.3%