Australia’s employment likely increased in March, jobless rate to have remained at 5.8%

Employment in Australia had increased sharply by 120k in October/November 2015, equivalent to an annualised rate of 3.1%. However, employment in the December-February period stagnated effectively. With the Australian economy expected to expand just a tad below trend in the first quarter of 2016, employment is likely to increase by 17k, equivalent to an annualised rate of 1.7%, according to Societe Generale.

Since the participation rate is likely to remain at 64.9, this will be enough to almost absorb the new applicants to the labor force. Therefore, the jobless rate is likely to remain at 5.8%, added Societe Generale. This will support the fact that the jobless rate definitely peaked in July 2015 at 6.3% and keep the central bank on hold for now.