The ABS is out with January Labour Force and the news is amusing:
- SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
- Employed persons increased 39,100 to 12,751,800. Full-time employed persons increased 65,400 to 8,743,100 and part-time employed persons decreased 26,300 to 4,008,700.
- Unemployed persons increased 6,600 to 673,500.
- Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.0%.
- Participation rate increased 0.1 pts to 65.7%.
- Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 6.6 million hours to 1766.4 million hours.
It’s the magic pudding that doesn’t even need an economy! More seriously, this is not that unexpected. Economic indicators only turned down sharply in January and hiring won’t catch up for a quarter or more. As I’ve said before, the jobs market probably won’t show weakness until late Q1 or even Q2.
Aussie dollar to the moon, bonds hosed, stocks bashed as RBA hopes recede.
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More to come.
