Australian unemployment rate likely rose again to 13 year high

Australia will release February labour-market data on 12 March. The unemployment rate likely rose to a 13-year high of 6.5%, while the participation rate remained unchanged at 64.8%.

Job creation was strong in 2014, with over 200,000 jobs created; of these, 120,000 were full-time jobs. However, the pace of job growth was insufficient to keep the unemployment rate low. 

Standard Chartered Bank notes as follows on Wednesday:

• We expect 3,500 jobs to have been lost in February, following 12,200 jobs lost in January.
  
  
• We expect better labour-market participation in February as consumer sentiment for the month rose above the neutral 100 level for the first time in 12 months. Business confidence has fallen to 3.0 from 8.7 in February 2014, however. 
  
  
• We expect the unemployment rate to remain elevated in the medium term, before dropping towards end-2015.