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Australian employment rises modestly in February, jobless rate likely to remain flat in months ahead

Australian labor market continues to be strong. Employment rose modestly in February after rising strongly in January. Leading indicators point to further growth in employment, albeit at a slower rate, noted ANZ in a research report.

Employment grew modestly by 4.6k in February, following the 38.3k rise in January. Part-time jobs led the gain with a rise of 11.9k, while full-time jobs dropped by 7.3k after a solid rise in January. Significantly, the jobless rate fell to 4.9 percent, while the participation rate dropped to 65.5 percent. The underemployment rate continued to be at 8.1 percent, while the underutilization rate fell to 13 percent – the lowest rate since 2013.

Throughout the states, jobless rate rose in New South Wales and Victoria, but rebounded in the smaller states. The leading indicators for employment continue to be mixed.

“Looking at a number of monthly indicators in aggregate, our ANZ Labour Market Indicator suggests that the unemployment rate will remain broadly flat over the next few months. If we are correct, this should keep the RBA on the sidelines”, added ANZ.

At 13:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Australian Dollar was neutral at 14.5894 while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -22.1075 more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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