Unemployment back to 5.4%

Thursday, 17 January 2013

ABS December unemployment figures are out and the stuttering rise continues with the official rate up 2bps to 5.4%. The trend is definitely up:

Full time employment fell 13.8k and part time rose 8.3k for a balance on the month of minus 5.5k.

The participation rate continues to disguise the job shedding, remaining flat at 65.1% against expectations of a rise.

The dollar dropped 30 pips on the news.

The Unconventional Economist will return shortly with a full report.

About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.