Unemployment falls to a three year low
Australia’s unemployment has slipped from 5.7 per cent to 5.6 per cent, despite the unexpected loss of 3900 jobs.
It takes the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to its lowest level since September 2013.
The loss of 3900 jobs was the big surprise, as economists had forecast a 15,000 gain.
The fall in the numbers despite the job losses can be partly explained by the labour participation rate – the number of people actually looking for work – falling by 0.2 percentage points to 64.7 per cent.
However, ANZ’s head of Australian economics Felicity Emmett said the ageing of the population had exaggerated the decline.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed there was an increase in hours worked, but that was largely driven by people working on the census.
“Of the majority of the persons who were employed for the Census, most already had another job, but worked more hours during the month,” Program Manager of ABS’ Labour and Income Branch, Jacqui Jones said.
All up, monthly hours worked fell by 3.9 million in August and the underemployment rate climbed to 8.7 percent.
by Leon Gettler, September 16th 2016
