MNI 5 THINGS. Australia Oct Unemployment Rate Steady at 5.0 %

--Australian Labour Force Data Released Thursday Nov 15

By Lachlan Colquhoun

     SYDNEY (MNI) - Australia's Unemployment Rate has held steady at 5.0% for

October, surprising a consensus of analysts who had forecast an uptick to 5.1%.

Here are five factors to note in the data released today.

Unemployment remains at a six year low. At 5.0%, October's unemployment rate

remains at a six year low, but the Reserve Bank of Australia believes it can go

even lower next year. Falling unemployment is key to the RBA outlook for 2019,

which expects employment to tighten, wages to increase and for this to flow

through to inflation, potentially creating conditions for an interest rate rise.

By holding steady at 5.0%, today's data is consistent with RBA expectations for

the economy in 2019.

Participation rate ticked higher. Although the unemployment rate held firm,

recent falls in the participation rate were snapped as it crept 0.1 pts higher

to 65.6%. Participation peaked for 2018 at 66.3% in February and has been on a

downward trajectory since then, bottoming at 65.4% in September.

Jump in Employment. Reflecting the participation rate, employment increased by

32,800 in seasonally adjusted terms, surpassing expectations of an increase of

only 20,000. This lifted Australia's employment to population ratio to 62.3%. up

0.5 percentage points in the last 12 months.

Queensland bucks the trend. The unemployment rate fell in all of the Australian

states with the exception of Queensland, where it increased 0.3% to 6.3%,

reflecting the impact of the drought on agricultural businesses and regional

areas. The Queensland figure contrasts with the strong economies of NSW, where

unemployment held steady at 4.4%, and Victoria where it fell another 0.1% to

4.5%.

Part time work in demand. The data continued to show the trend for job seekers

preferring part time work over full time. While the number looking for part time

work only increased 9,800 to 226,700, the number seeking full time employment

fell 5200 to 445,400.

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