Unemployment flat at 5.0% despite solid jobs growth

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The ABS has released its labour market report for October, which reveals that unemployment remains flat at 50.% despite a 32,800 lift in employment (mostly full-time). However, growth in hours worked was weak:

The key points from the release are:

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • Employment increased 25,400 to 12,665,800.
  • Unemployment decreased 7,600 to 680,300.
  • Unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 5.1%.
  • Participation rate remained steady at 65.6%.
  • Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 3.6 million hours (0.2%) to 1,761.8 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

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  • Employment increased 32,800 to 12,671,500. Full-time employment increased 42,300 to 8,703,700 and part-time employment decreased 9,500 to 3,967,900.
  • Unemployment increased 4,600 to 672,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 5,200 to 445,400 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work increased 9,800 to 226,700.
  • Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.0%.
  • Participation rate increased by 0.1 pts to 65.6%.
  • Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 6.1 million hours (0.3%) to 1,764.4 million hours.

LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • The monthly trend underemployment rate remained steady at 8.3 per cent. The monthly underutilisation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 13.4 per cent.
  • The monthly seasonally adjusted underemployment rate remained steady at 8.3 per cent. The monthly underutilisation rate remained steady at 13.3 per cent.

Full report to come.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.