MNI BRIEF: Aussie Employment Falls, Unemployment At 3.8%
Australian unemployment rose to 3.8% in March, lower than the market’s 3.9% prediction, but up from the prior month’s 3.7%, while employment fell by 6,6000, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed Thursday.
The market had expected the economy to add 10,000 jobs over March. The Reserve Bank of Australia has forecasted within its February Statement on Monetary Policy that unemployment will reach 4.2% by Q2.
The drop in employment follow’s February’s larger-than-usual job creation, which saw 116,500 people enter the workforce. MNI reported the RBA would aim to look through the volatile February print. (See MNI POLICY: RBA To Look Past Volatile Labour Data)
“The labour market remained relatively tight in March, with an employment-to-population ratio and participation rate still close to their record highs in November 2023. While they have both fallen by 0.4 percentage points since then, they continue to be much higher than their pre-pandemic levels,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.