Free Trial

Beat On Headline Employment, Hours Worked Tumble

AUSTRALIA

A beat for the headline employment change (+12.9K vs. BBG median of 0), with full-time job losses of 17.0K more than offset by part-time employment growth. The 0.1ppt uptick in participation offset the headline job gains when it came to the unemployment rate, leaving the headline unemployment rate unch. at 4.2%, as expected. In terms of wider measures of slack, underemployment edged 0.1ppt higher, after registering a multi-year trough in December, with a similar dynamic observed in the underutilisation rate. Hours worked experienced a sizeable fall, with the ABS noting that “while we again saw higher than usual numbers of people taking annual leave - even more so than last year - the 8.8 per cent fall in hours worked in January 2022 also reflected much higher than usual numbers of people on sick leave. This echoes what we saw in the recent ABS business survey on COVID-related absences.”

  • A reminder that the RBA has pointed to the need to push unemployment lower, in a bid to foster meaningful wage growth/sustainable underlying inflation.
MNI London Bureau | +44 0203-865-3809 | anthony.barton@marketnews.com
MNI London Bureau | +44 0203-865-3809 | anthony.barton@marketnews.com

To read the full story

Close

Why MNI

MNI is the leading provider

of intelligence and analysis on the Global Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Energy markets. We use an innovative combination of real-time analysis, deep fundamental research and journalism to provide unique and actionable insights for traders and investors. Our "All signal, no noise" approach drives an intelligence service that is succinct and timely, which is highly regarded by our time constrained client base.

Our Head Office is in London with offices in Chicago, Washington and Beijing, as well as an on the ground presence in other major financial centres across the world.