MNI: Australia ANZ Nov Job Ads Point to Positive Labor Market

     SYDNEY (MNI) - Job advertisements in Australia rose month-on-month for the

second straight month, with the year-on-year growth pace at a solid +12.1%,

pointing to a positive outlook for employment gains.

     Data published by ANZ Monday showed jobs ads rose 1.5% m/m in November, the

same as October, though the trend slowed slightly to +0.7% m/m from +0.8%.

     But even as the outlook for employment remains positive, the key for the

Reserve Bank of Australia is how fast this results in a pickup in wage growth.

The RBA is hopeful that as labor market slack diminishes, wage growth will start

to pick up. At the same time, it is cautious because experience in other

developed economies has shown that wage growth is slow to pick up even after the

unemployment rate has fallen below what was previously regarded as full

employment.

     From the ANZ job-advertisement survey for November:

                             November                     October

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Job Ads (SA*, Change M/M)       +1.5%  +1.5% (revised from +1.4%)

Job Ads (SA*, Change Y/Y)      +12.1%                      +12.5%

Job Ads (Trend, Change M/M)     +0.7%                       +0.8%

Job Ads (Trend, Change Y/Y)    +12.8%                      +12.9%

--MNI Sydney Bureau; tel: +61 2-9716-5467; email: sophia.rodrigues@marketnews.com

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