No Lasting Reaction To Labour Market Report

No meaningful, lasting reaction to the latest round of labour market data out of Australia, with a surprise 2.2K addition in headline employment (BBG median -43.1K) in July, with the 6.4K rise in part-time employed offsetting the 4.2K fall in full-time employed.

• More meaningfully, hours worked fell by 0.2%.
• Timing may be masking the current situation, with the lockdown in Victoria not reflected in the release. The ABS noted that "the labour market changes in New South Wales between June and July had a large influence on the national figures. There were big falls in New South Wales in both employment (-36,000) and unemployment (-27,000), with the labour force reducing by around 64,000 people. In addition, hours worked in New South Wales fell by 7.0%. These changes offset increases in employment and hours in Victoria."
• The dip in the participation rate and uptick in the number employed resulted in a surprise downtick in the unemployment rate.
• The underemployment and underutilisation rates moved further away from the multi-year troughs witnessed in May.
• YM and XM saw very modest downticks on the headline reading, before the nuances of the release filtered in. YM +1.0, XM +2.5.