Australian jobs market continues to soften

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The ABS is out with May jobs and the news is more softening:

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE) 

  • Employment increased 12,000 to 12,518,300. Full-time employment decreased 20,600 to 8,521,400 and part-time employment increased 32,600 to 3,996,900.
  • Unemployment decreased 26,800 to 714,600. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 11,200 to 494,300 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 15,600 to 220,300.
  • Unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 pts to 5.4%.
  • Participation rate decreased by 0.2 pts to 65.5%.
  • Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 24.2 million hours (1.4%) to 1,738.8 million hours.

LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (QUARTERLY CHANGE) 

  • Trend estimates: the labour force underemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 8.5%. The underutilisation rate remained steady at 13.9%.
  • Seasonally adjusted estimates: the labour force underemployment rate increased by 0.1 pts to 8.5%. The underutilisation rate remained steady at 13.9%.

Markets looked through the UE rate drop as participation fell to the softer jobs growth. We’re definitely past the best of it.

More to come.

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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.