Australian job ads data from ANZ is a lower-tier economic indicator and I'm skeptical of job ads as an indicator of anything other than automation in hiring but this one is tough to ignore.
Ads rose a whopping 7.4% in the month of November after a 6.2% rise in October. That's the highest since May and comes despite the recent uptick in unemployment to 5.2% from 4.5%. It suggests that companies are growing more sensitive to the possibility of worker shortages, something that will inevitably push up wages.
It's been a mildly positive start to the week in AUD/USD trading after it plunged on Friday to the lowest of the year. However it hasn't broken the low from last November and that could provide support for a bounce, particularly if signs continue to point to milder illness from omicron.
It will certainly be a testy week, regardless of how it starts. Volatility has picked up since omicron and I don't see it calming down in the short term.
Moreover, tomorrow the RBA meets and that will add another element to trading.
