MNI BRIEF: Aussie Unemployment Prints Tighter At 4% In May
Australia’s unemployment rate fell 10 basis points to 4.0% in May, in line with expectations, while employment grew by 39,700, stronger than anticipated, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.
“In April we saw more unemployed people than usual waiting to start work. Some of the fall in unemployment and rise in employment in May reflects these people starting or returning to their jobs,” noted Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.
“While the total number of unemployed people fell by 9,000 in May, this followed a 33,000 increase in April. Unemployment was around 24,000 people more than in March, an average increase of around 12,000 people each month.
The RBA has warned against placing too much emphasis on singular data points and has suggested it will look through volatile monthly CPI and labour market prints. (See MNI POLICY: Markets Overplaying Impact Of Data Points On RBA)
The Reserve Board next meets June 17-18.