Australian Labour market release for October … continuing to paint a strong jobs growth picture

Employment Change: +32.8K big beat

  • expected +20K, prior +7.8K, revised up from+5.6K

Unemployment Rate: 5.0% and another beat

  • expected 5.1%, prior 5.0%

Full Time Employment Change: +42.3K …. wow

  • prior was +24.6K, revised up from+20.3K

Part Time Employment Change: -9.5K

  • prior was -16.8K, revised down from -14.7K

Participation Rate 65.6% and this is higher also

  • expected 65.5%, prior was 65.5%, revised up from 65.4%

Strong data again, AUD marked up immediately

For the 'trend' data (above is seasonally adjusted, which grabs the headlines)

  • trend unemployment rate 5.1% (from 5.2)
  • "Today's fall in trend unemployment to 5.1 per cent marks the lowest unemployment rate since early 2012. This month is the 25th consecutive monthly increase in employed full-time persons with an average increase of 20,300 employed per month" said the Chief Economist for the ABS, Bruce Hockman.
  • Trend employment increased by 25,400 persons
  • Full-time employment increased by 22,900 persons
  • part-time employment by 2,500
  • trend underemployment rate remained steady at 8.3 per cent
  • trend underutilisation rate decreased 0.1 percentage points to 13.4 per cent
  • trend participation rate remained steady at 65.6 per cent
  • Over the past year, trend employment increased by 285,900 persons or 2.3 per cent, which was above the average year-on-year growth over the past 20 years (2.0 per cent).
  • The trend monthly hours worked increased by 0.2 per cent in October 2018 and by 2.0 per cent over the past year.

Yesterday we had wages data which showed growth, but slow, and was a little on the disappointing side. Today … no disappointment here (underemployment stubborn above 8% if you'd like something to be disappointed about though)

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For background to this: