HSBC's Paul Bloxham on the Australian labour market report for June 2017 that was out yesterday

(ICYMI, data is here: Australia Employment Change (June): 14.0 K (expected +15.0K) )

In brief from the HSBC note:

  • The headline figures were largely in line with the market expectation.
  • The surprise was the full-time/part-time split, which was much more positive than expected, with the survey showing strong full-time job creation.
  • As a result, the hours worked numbers rose by a strong 3.3% y-o-y (up from -0.5% y-o-y just four months ago).
  • It is now clear that the official labour force survey is now telling us that spare capacity is quickly being absorbed ... We see this, along with the lift in corporate profits and the minimum wage, as likely to support a pick-up in wages growth in H2 2017. We expect the RBA to lift its cash rate in Q1 2018.

(bolding mine ... ICYMI!)