Westpac notes that "the January labour....>

AUSTRALIA: Westpac notes that "the January labour force survey in detail & tone

was broadly in keeping with our reading of the econ & calls into question the

RBA's optimism. On unemployment, the surprise dip in Nov & Dec from 5.3% to 5.1%

has been fully reversed. Considerable labour mkt slack remains, with

underemployment rising to 8.6%. Wages growth is set to remain weak &

inconsistent with an econ on a sustainable expansion path. Employment momentum

has slowed, considerably so, and is running < population growth. This is broadly

consistent with the overall econ backdrop - growth well < trend & arguably stuck

~2% pace. Over the past 4 months, job gains averaged 14.2k a month, in line with

the 3 month avg to Dec of +14.4k. This is a 1.25% annualised pace, a clear notch

below working age population of 1.64%. Recent outcomes are well below the 2.5%

annualised pace prevailing in mid-'19. Labour supply strength remains a key

theme. There is a clear & strong upward trend in female participation. On the

bushfires, the ABS notes that there was some modest disruption to the operation

of the survey. It appears, as we anticipated, that this impacted hours worked

more so than numbers employed."