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Yesterday’s labour market release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was a taste of things to come, with the unemployment rising 0.2% in January despite falling labour force participation.
This was on the back of a 11,500 decline in jobs, a 21,900 increase in the number of unemployed, and a 2.1% fall in the number of hours worked:
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s aggressive rate hikes are specifically designed to slow demand and lift unemployment in order to take the sting out of inflation (including wage growth).
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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.
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