As summarised earlier by Houses & Holes, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released labour force data for the month of October, which registered no change in the headline unemployment rate (still 6.2%). The result was in line with analyst’s expectations. In trend terms, the unemployment rate was also steady at 6.2% in October – still the highest unemployment since November 2002 (see next chart).
Total employment jumped by a seasonally adjusted 24,100 to 11,592,200 in October. The increase in jobs was comprised of a 33,400 increase in full-time jobs partly offset by a 9,400 dencrease in part-time jobs. The aggregate monthly hours worked increased by 24.9 million hours (1.6%) to 1 ,614.4 million hours.
